Wale recently joined Rich Kleiman and Damien Scott on the Boardroom Talks program, reflecting on his industry moves, his artistic values, and of course, his new album, everything is a lot. It's a compelling full watch you shouldn't miss. However, as an appetizer, some of the most curious parts of the interview are when the DMV MC talks about his industry relationships with Drake and Kid Cudi.
They are two very different tales, but let's start with the 6ix God. At around the 26:47-minute mark of the video below, Kleiman posited that the "City On Fire" rapper had a lead over Drizzy in the blog era that he eventually lost, which led him to reflect on their relationship.
"Last time I seen him was at one of Sean Dickinson's parties in L.A.," he recalled. "Briefly, 'How are the kids? Alright, peace.' We never had a close relationship like that, for whatever reason. I don't know, I mean, we good, but we were not as close as [others]. [...] Maybe [the blog era] ended before [Drake's battle with Kendrick Lamar]. I think when everybody stopped really working, that's what the game does to you. People's inner circles do that to you, and then life happens. Once everybody stopped really rapping together, or maybe the numbers decided who was working together, I think it kind of ended right there."
Wale Kid Cudi Beef
Before that, at the 22:55-minute mark of the video above, Wale's Kid Cudi beef came up. "I don't talk to Cudi," he remarked. "I don't harbor nothing, but I really felt like they kicked me when I was down." This was in reference to Cudi dissing Wale's music in a 2010 Complex story.
"We used to run together," he continued. "You're going to say something like that to Complex, which is kind of my direct fan base? And they made it a thing. That joint f***ed me up. It really did. I was at [Rick] Ross' house... 'Aye, [Cudi], we should just do a song.' We did 'Focused,' he did the vocals over the phone... He couldn't really be bothered to do the vocals properly."
Wale also recalled an icy response from the Cleveland creative when he invited him to a personal event. "It was really bad for a couple years," he expressed. "How I felt about him and how I felt about the grace he would get for struggling [with mental health], and I was going through the same stuff and I ain't getting nothing. That joint was boiling my blood. [...] Now I'm on some, 'Everybody, it's kumbaya.' I ain't trying to keep harboring these feelings, but I was hot for some time."
