Once upon a time not too long ago, fellow rising rap stars Wale and KiD CuDi were embroiled in a bitter beef that seemed to spell the end for their former friendship. But earlier this year, the two made peace and even hinted at a future collaboration. Now, as Wale gears up for the release of his latest studio album, Ambition, the Maybach Music rapper is now discussing his reconciliation with CuDi and their new duet, “Focused.”
According to MTV News, Wale opened up about the former Lonely Stoner and their new song while previewing his new album to music outlets, prefacing the track with a vague story about the demise of their friendship.
“We’re 23 years old at this time, we’re trying to figure it all out,” said Wale.”We went from not having s–t to having money at our disposal, so it kind of f—ed up our friendship. He doesn’t smoke as much anymore, but his name is Scott.”
Wale and CuDi, who began their rise to fame around the same time a few years ago, were once good friends, even trading verses on the Man On the Moon: The End of Day bonus track, “Is There Any Love.” But in 2010, things publicly went sour for the two when CuDi revealed to Complex that he and Wale were feuding. Wale attributed the falling-out to lack of communication between the two.
“The last time me and him spoke was … maybe three years ago,” Wale said. “It was a weird exchange. … When you don’t talk to somebody for a long time and you see them on TV and you’re trying to figure them out through music … we bumped into each other, and we spoke, and it was just weird. It was already animosity for me, because I was like, ‘Yo, this is my guy and it’s just weird now. Just weird.’
Wale continues, “So [later on], it was Drake’s birthday party in D.C.; he was there. I’m getting off the elevator and I see him. So he was like, ‘What’s up?’ I was like, ‘What’s up?’ And that was it. Next thing I see is the Complex interview. That was maybe like a year after that.”
Although it seemed like the two would remain bitter enemies, things were patched up between the rappers, earlier this year, via Twitter. According to Wale, he was in disbelief (due to CuDi’s lightened voice) when CuDi made the initial phone call that sparked the Twitter reconciliation.
“He was like, ‘I don’t smoke weed anymore, bro. My voice is changing. I’m about to hit you on Twitter right now.” Wale said. “I was like, ‘Sup, man, how you been?’ He said, ‘I been good, man. I just wanted to get right to it: I know I’ve been acting kind of f—ed up and weird,’ and this that and a third and all that other personal s–t. He threw that out there, and we just made amends. The next morning, he called me like, ‘I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t high or anything when I called you. I really meant it.’ ”
To further smooth things out between the two, Wale invited CuDi to join him on the synth-heavy uptempo track, “Focused,” a song he believes marries the best of both worlds between the two artists.
“It’s a testament to where I am lyrically, spiritually, all of that, because this song almost never happened, as y’all know,” Wale said. “It feels like the record that ‘Is There Any Love’ was supposed to be. When they kept talking about me and CuDi in every magazine, this is the record I felt like they needed to hear — the one that everybody was going to get behind, and it was going to go top 40 and not be corny. This is like the best top 40 non-cheesy record that you’re ever going to hear in your life. That’s how I feel about it.”
Wale’s Ambition hits stores on Nov. 1. –nicholas robinson
