Wale Quotations

The first thing that's important is to really have people believe in you. If you have that, you can do anything.

The ability to make somebody feel something: that's art. However you look at it, whether you're an author, a painter, a singer, a rapper, a spoken-word artist - art.

I 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.

I'm at like 325 pairs right now, give or take. But I've given away about 200 pairs of sneakers. I'm not as big of a collector as I used to be, because I think the game just got weird. Everybody likes to collect now, so it's kind of corny. But I got the essentials.

Not 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.

I'm learning as I go. I don't know everything. I never had anybody to look at, nobody ever taught me, and where I'm from I didn't have any famous role models.

I'm a black man in the United States of America, so I always feel like there's a target on me.

I 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.

My dream tour would be like, me, Cole, Drake, Sean, Meek. I think that would be dope, something like that; big venues.

Not to sound bad, but some girls are dumb. It's because they spend so much of their life trying to have the right look. On the other hand, some girls are just really smart. There are girls you can have conversations with that are healthy conversations. You can argue real life issues and solve problems together. That is what makes a woman sexy.

I'm very proud of my Nigerian heritage. I wasn't fortunate enough to be raised in a heavy Nigerian environment, because my parents were always working. My father was with D.C. Cabs and my mother worked in fast food and was a nurse.

However, people need to understand that it ain't that deep to try and convince people of what your persona is. You are who you are, and what you are will show in time. What you aren't can be hidden, but eventually it will come to light. Long story short: rappers should never take themselves too seriously.

I worked at a hot dog place, a bagel place, the Jersey Store and the hottest fashion joint around. I was getting too famous to work there anymore. I was almost showing up as a joke. I made $2,000 on my show the previous night and I'm going to go shopping during my five-hour shift.

I take a lot of pride in my live show and put more energy there than I do in the studio.

I don't be remembering women that I've met before. I don't remember people as a whole. It's crazy. A lot of times, people get in their feelings, like, 'You don't remember me?!'

I can take an opinion, but I don't like when you try and spew hate and contaminate the way other people think. I feel like I'm one of the people that's always made music for the common man. That's why I don't really live my life the way I could. I don't stunt as much as I could stunt, 'cause that's not who my music is for.

I speak my mind. That's what we loved Tupac for.

Making love is, simply put, poetry in motion.

I'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.

In terms of 'Seinfeld', I think there's lot of reality in a show that's supposed to be about nothing.

A lot of my female fans discovered me through the passion I have for bettering myself. Not to say the dudes don't, but my female fan-base is based off women who want to do better.

All the rappers my age are getting Audemars and Rolexes. I want to find my own thing. That's why I travel the world - for me, that's my B-side, why we go places. I have a Hublot on from time to time but I want a home base watch - something that's elegant but has got a little pizzazz to it.

I've seen all types of women. Celebrity girls I've dated and regular 9 to 5 girls. I've had shows where married women have tried to follow me to my hotel. My perception of women isn't very ignorant because I've seen a lot.

There's no way you can win when you're the president; you've got to be the scapegoat for America's issues.

I used to have a real passion for writing, but not so much anymore - probably because I do too much of it.

I never understood the idea that I was a 'backpack rapper.' I think that's a lazy way that people started thinking. They like saying that because I got dreads. I look like I belong a certain place, so it's easy to put everything in a box.

I'd love a super human memory. My memory has never been good.

There are certain things that can be asked that get me excited. It's never a thing where I think I'm too good, I'm just the type of person who likes to be enlightened. I don't like to go through the motions.

I don't wanna sound pretentious talking about myself.

I never had money; I like nice things, but I don't let that run my life. At the same time, I have to let something drive me... so now I let the money drive me.

My job is to inspire the people, to be on top of my game and push my culture forward.

I'm fortunate enough to be living my dreams and a lot of other peoples' dreams.

I 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.

I'm insecure about things. I'm not afraid to say it, though. Even when my publicist is like, 'Go on the red carpet,' I don't wanna go.

My life is better than a lot of people I know. I'm definitely happy about that.

Not everybody is a great rapper; not everybody lives for the art of lyricism.

Every artist is supposed to get emotional. You're painting pictures of emotions.

I put my foot in my mouth sometimes. I'll be the first to admit it.

I'm a passionate person, to a fault at times.

Basically, the Internet is just the way now. It's the end-all, be-all of self-promotion. It's not like you got to burn CDs and pass them out or sell them. The Internet is a tool that reaches billions and billions of people. It's like a no-brainer to tie it in with self-promotion, or even label promotion.

Sometimes I'm happy - you can tell via Twitter. Sometimes I'm pissed off - you can tell via Twitter. I just think, at the end of the day, I don't want them to see me as a celebrity; I just want them to see me and say, 'He's like a regular person at his job right now who's mad.'

I used to switch up my cologne every two to three months, get a new wave - Dolce, Versace, Burberry. But Black Orchid, that joint stayed. That's the smell of beauty that stays on you... and girls love Tom Ford.

As much as I don't want to admit it, my fans are the only ones that can hurt my feelings when they're not pleased with what I'm presenting. I want it to be perfect for them. I want them to have a different sense of pride in my music.

I want to be on a show that's not sensitive to racial jokes; I want to be on one where they call me everything and I call them right back. There's blatant racism going both ways. That's what we need.

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. You're the artist - you make the music that you want to make.

If someone doesn't have a reason to not like you in America, they talk politics or religion. Then they get to hate you and we get to be enemies.

I'm a regular person. I know a lot of people love being famous. I don't like it. I'm just chillin'. YouknowwhatI'msayin'?

I feel like I'm one of the more creative artists in the game. I think I'm going to be here for a while.

I come from a place, with all due respect, who's never had a music star in hip-hop. So the odds is already against me.

I go out, but not too much. When I'm on tour, I just write a lot of music and sleep.

I 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?

I've become a workaholic. When the shows slow down and there's no press and I can get my time to myself in the studio with my music, I get into this zone, man. I enter this incredible space where I'm just making music. And I feel like I can work with anybody - with Elton John, with Hanson - and I can make something incredible.

Mix-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.

The Web is the new way to figure out who's hot and what's not. You can't let TV dictate because it's so polished, so political. It is what they want you to know. The Internet is the raw.

Everything's pretty consistent in the industry, you know. There's a couple of naysayers, whatever, people who don't agree. But for the most part a lot of people believe in the new class of MC's that coming to the game.

It's a trend to insult Wale, like that makes you cool on the Internet, and a part of it is because I respond.

Ruzzle's my therapy. When I get off the stage from a packed show and I'm exhausted, I'll just go Ruzzle for like a good 30 minutes.

You can be a rapper born and raised in go-go music, violence, drugs, crack, Reagonomics, and still, if you hear 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,' you're going to find a way to hum along. Guilty pleasures? It don't matter. Sue me - I like the song. To dance to it is another matter.

Hip-hop is all about impact, baby. You can sell records, you can be two-times platinum, you can be gold... but if you lame, you lame, man. We try to provide the exact opposite of that. It's style, individuality, confidence. We exude that.

When we were in D.C. my daddy used to cut his hair with a bowl. Crucial. If you're African, Haitan, Jamaican or even more poor than the people in the project, you'll know about that.

We lived in a one-bedroom apartment in Northwest D.C. I was essentially raised by a Panamanian man and a Jamaican woman. That's why I have such a fascination with Jamaican food.

D.C.'s a tough place to get love unless you're from D.C. It's like everybody hates you here. The only black person that everyone can agree on is Obama.

I 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.

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.

You're the artist - you make the music that you want to make.

One thing Jay z told me that always sticks with me, is that, the album is never how you viewed it to be.

Jay-Z's my favorite rapper, but why can't I aspire to be better than him?

When 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.

I 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.

Some 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.

No days off. I'm a workaholic.

There'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.

Riding in another drop, ain't talking Enterprise They try to see me, get diabetes from humble pie

It's ironic how I drop some 'DOUGH' (Doh) when I got them Homer Simpsons.

I 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.

I just wanna affect the culture and wanna be able to support young people with goals that aren't just limited to rapping and producing.

Most 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.

I'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.

Sometimes 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.

I 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.

You niggas so-so like a seamstress.

You 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.

I 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.

I 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.

I'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.

Maybe 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.

It's something to be Great, It's nothing to be Famous

I'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.

Initially, 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.

The Loudest person in the room, is usually the brokest

If I woke up tomorrow and didn't have a dolla, as long as I have my heart, I can get it all over.

Ambition is priceless, its something that's in your veins.

Life without dreaming is a life without meaning.

Failure is not an option. Success is just a process.

May the optimism of tomorrow be your foundation for today.

All I’m saying is like, spoil me with your consistency Always remain the same you and you won’t have to worry about a different me