Wale is dropping his upcoming album, The Gifted, on June 25th, a date which his friend and past collaborator, J. Cole, had previously picked out but decided to jump a week earlier. Although June 18th is seeming like 'the date' to drop on this summer, Wale is confident in his decision to keep his original date, and says in a new interview with The Breakast Club there is definitely meaning behind his release date choice.
When asked why the MMG spitter didn't want to hop on the June 18th train, Wale responds that J. Cole's inspiration may be Kanye West, but Wale is different.
"His [J. Cole's] inspiration was Kanye. That's not my inspiration," Wale said. "I like Kanye, I think he's one of the greatest, but I'm not gunna adjust what I was gunna initially do. Like I wanted to represent a lot of things. Reasonable Doubt dropped on June 25th. That was something to come later, in my whole talking about it," the D.C. native revealed.
Wale goes on to reveal that he was aware of Cole's date change prior to the announcement. "He told me he was gunna do it a couple days before he did it, but I was gunna be like 'oh, can I come to y'all sandbox and play on y'all day?' I'm straight where I'm at." He added, "Our jawns could have came out a month apart, they gunna compare them jawns regardless."
Wale goes on to have a discussion with The Breakfast Club about his recent large sneaker purchase, the art of rap, lyricism, and the current rap culture, among other things. Watch the full interview below.
