Even though hip-hop reached the 40-year milestone this year, Wale feels that the genre is still too young to fully embrace honesty when it comes to relationships. From his perspective, hip-hop wallows in and champions immaturity — particularly among men.
“I don’t think we’ve grown comfortable [with] talking about feelings all the way,” he says,“like other genres do. Even like Taylor Swift and them. … Or in R&B, Miguel. Our genre, essentially, is kind of young. It is driven by young people; young African-Americans. Us as a culture — we as a people – aren’t really the best with that. We got egos. Crazy egos. We’re some of the most egotistical people on the planet. I’m going to say it’s a defense mechanism. … It is almost frowned upon to be honest about relationships. Everybody wants you to rap from the perspective of the dude that has 20 girlfriends and can buy her a Bentley; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.”
His opinions regarding women are still rooted in the way many young men view women. He acknowledges that he’s dated a wide variety of girls and isn’t exactly in a rush to be tied down or “in love” with anybody.
“I’m 28 and I’ve been all over the world. I’ve seen all types of women — celebrity girls … and regular 9-to-5 girls. I’ve had shows where married women have tried to follow me to my hotel,” Wale explains. “… There is a dude somewhere who is dating his high school girlfriend, probably in his late 30s — and that’s all he knows. He doesn’t even know what she’s capable of and vice versa. I’ve seen it already. Nothing is really going to surprise me.”
Love gone bad can make anyone a little gun-shy about committed relationships, and Wale believes that he’s seen enough to warrant being a bit leery of women’s intentions. And he admits that he’s given his own fair share of heartache and hurt to the women he’s dated.
“I’m a little more cautious,” he says. “But I mean, some will say it made me bitter or a little more reluctant to embrace love. And they might be right. That’s just my past. I really know what women are capable of. I’m sure a lot of them know what I am capable of. But, I’ve just seen a whole lot.”
