Charles is Charles. Wale is Wale. It's two separate entities that have nothing to do with each other and probably will never have anything to do with each other and I wish him the best.
WaleSometimes I'm just a little bit too honest. There was some things that were going on behind the scenes that I didn't like because it's not what hip-hop is about. Hip-hop is about honesty and it's about being real to the people, and I kinda felt like there's some instances where some artists aren't 100% honest with the people. Their integrity is lacking sometimes. And sometimes it comes out.
WaleMost artists should be able to make the album that they want. You don't necessarily pick the singles that you want when you're making a record, but for the most part it's the same process.
WaleI don't want to be one of those guys that you see who made $4 million, invested $3.5 million, and now you work at Wendy's.
WaleI hope everybody thinks they've got the best album. I wouldn't have put mine out if I didn't think it was the best.
WaleI want people to be like, 'Your album's just as good as Kendrick [Lamar]'s or Esperanza Spalding or Beck. I work just as hard as them.
WaleWhen you're just reading a note card but when you're just reading a note card and it doesn't even feel real, it's difficult at times. But I have no problem doing interviews. So I have absolutely no problem doing interviews.
WaleSome interviewers aren't even interested. They're just doing it because they gotta do it. Life is nothing without passion. Whatever you're doing, at least be passionate about it because I'm passionate about what I'm doing. I'm passionate about the words I'm saying right now. Just be passionate. When the interviews is passionate, it's more conversational and we're not covering the same ground.
WaleMaybe they just like me because they like me, and they don't like me because they feel like they have to like me because they like this person or that person.
WaleI'm just so happy and proud of everybody and what everybody's doing. From Curren$y doing decent numbers with the independent, digital release; from Asher selling 1.1 million-plus on iTunes with the single and almost at 200,000 [albums sold] now; Cudi got almost 4,000 BDS's a week; Mickey Factz doing the Rock The Bells tour; Blu signed a deal shortly after; Ace Hood had two very successful singles, another album getting ready to drop. Everybody's doing their thing, man.
WaleThe first thing that's important is to really have people believe in you. If you have that, you can do anything.
WaleMix-tapes are something that have been going on for a while. They've been pretty important to hip-hop. It's the way we advertise our music to the public for free.
WaleI just wanna affect the culture and wanna be able to support young people with goals that aren't just limited to rapping and producing.
WaleYou never wanna see yourself there. Like, ever. I'd rather go to jail than see myself on Step Your Rap Game up because I take a lot of time with my stuff.
WaleI'm never satisfied, man. I'm Virgo. We overanalyze and we're never satisfied. So I'm gonna keep going 'til the wheels fall off.
WaleI wanna meet the person who wrote the Burlington Coat Factory thing, but that's cool. I would love to understand it more, but everything is good.
WaleI could have easily got T-Pain or anybody like that, but let me just get somebody very left. That'll wake them up. Gaga. She's never done a rap record before. Pay attention. It's a method to my madness.
WaleI'm a regular person. I know a lot of people love being famous. I don't like it. I'm just chillin'. YouknowwhatI'msayin'?
WaleThere's a lot of real unity - and a lot fake unity, sadly. I think a lot of people are going to get an opportunity to pursue greatness and pursue careers outside of D.C. Not everybody is going to make it. I think there's a connotation that there's a lack of rappers out there.
WaleI'm not really caught up with celebrity women. I think a regular girl that goes to school or works at a Complex or Spin or Blender or whatever, one of those magazines. She'd probably be flyer to me than the person she's writing about.
WaleI dated all these girls and ended up not liking them and thought to myself, 'What was it that all of them had in common?' They had too much time on their hands. Even though they were pretty, they lacked something. A woman could be less attractive but with ambition and drive, that's the most beautiful thing.
WaleI understand that in the industry, a lot of it isn't real. Which is a difficult thing. Where I come from a lot of people are straightforward and I've had to learn how to not say exactly what I feel. Sometimes it gets frustrating being a person who says what he feels and what his heart is telling him. Every once in a while I fall into letting the industry get the best of me and not just saying exactly what I feel.
WaleI like David Beckham just because of his lifestyle. He don't ever need to score another goal again. How many times has he been on the cover of GQ?
WaleNot to sound corny, but intelligence is big. Everything fades, and everything can be modified. But intelligence is something you cant fake. Im not even talking about whether you can read a thesaurus backwards. But there is a beauty in common sense.
WaleI dated a lot, but I never really had anyone who was worthy of an anniversary. And most girlfriends never made it to a year, anyway.
WaleIf I woke up tomorrow and didn't have a dolla, as long as I have my heart, I can get it all over.
WaleInitially, I felt like my duty was to just keep it positive and be positive and sometimes I crack in that. We're human. I'm imperfect at times and that was just me being imperfect at that one point.
WaleI'm just trying to make the best music I can possibly make and represent the new class or whatever. Myself and Cudi and Asher and B.o.B. That's all I can do at this point.
Wale