Lil Wayne will be 'dry' in SA

GRAMMY-Award winning rapper Lil Wayne is bringing a 50-member entourage to South Africa in December.

And, to make sure his crew travel in style, the artist has asked organisers to provide five top-of-the-range SUVs and a luxury bus.

But the 29-year-old musician, who is on three years' probation for drug possession, will apparently be booze-free while in the country.

That is because his probation conditions prohibit the Lollipop singer from consuming alcohol, or knowingly associating with people engaged in criminal activities or taking narcotics.

Lil Wayne, who admitted in 2008 to battling an addiction to codeine - which is contained in some cough syrups - recently told GQ magazine that he couldn't wait for his probation to be over so that he could drink alcohol again.

Asked how it felt to be sober, he told the magazine: "I'm good, I'm used to it now. But I was never on heroin, cocaine or ecstasy ... I drank syrup and smoked a lotta weed. I wish I could be back on it."

Concert organiser Glen Netshipise said Lil Wayne's demands were generally in line with the requests of other international stars.

"There's nothing out of the ordinary. The main thing is always about making them comfortable," Netshipise said.

Before his arrest, Lil Wayne demanded that bottles of expensive Perrier-Jouët champagne, Hennessy XO Cognac and two bottles of Patron Platinum tequila be available to him in his hotel suite when he was on tour.

According to his 2008/2009 "backstage rider" - the list of demands made to concert organisers - Lil Wayne had to be housed in the presidential suites of five-star hotels.

The rapper will perform in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg as part of his "I Am Still Music" world tour next month.

He will begin the South African leg with a performance at Cape Town's Bellville Velodrome on Wednesday December 7, followed by a concert at the Northgate dome in Johannesburg on December 9. The final show will take place in Durban two days later.