Rapper LIL WAYNE helped to christen a new skateboarding park in his native New Orleans, Louisiana on Wednesday (26Sep12) after officially launching the venue.

The Lollipop hitmaker became the face of beverage brand Mountain Dew's new advertising campaign in March (12), and the two parties teamed up to build a state-of-the-art recreational retreat for youngsters in the city, which was hit hard by 2005's Hurricane Katrina.

The DEWeezy Skate Park, which had previously been scheduled to launch on 29 August (12), enjoyed its grand opening this week with Wayne taking part in special ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.

He tells the Associated Press, "I didn't think that skating was too popular in my city, so I wanted to make it something that everybody loves like I do. I just wanted to help out my city, help out the people, the kids, and give them something to do, something they haven't done before. It's always good to learn something new."

Wayne then showed off his skating skills by hitting the ramp for an hour-long demonstration with fellow sports fanatics to test out the indoor arena.