Lil' Wayne will release his much anticipated new album 'Tha Carter IV' in the spring, it has emerged.

The rapper, who was freed from prison last November, is understood to be planning a March or April release.

Details about the project, which is the non-sequential follow-up to 2008's 'Tha Carter III', emerged in Lil' Wayne's profile with Rolling Stone.

The rapper has been working with Kanye West and T-Pain and, except for “three or four tracks”, the whole album was recorded after his prison release.

The rapper spent much of last year behind bars at Rikers in New York after pleading guilty to gun possession.

Despite his imprisonment, Lil' Wayne managed to write and record new material.

(by Jason Gregory)