Wale Says He Won’t Go Down ‘Pop’ Road Again, Talks ‘Shades’

Interscope rapper Wale recently sat down with Canada's Peace Magazine, to discuss his long-awaited album 'Attention Deficit,' which is scheduled for a Nov. 10 release. Wale claims that his album is "not a pop album," despite the fact that his first single was the Lady Gaga assisted 'Chillin.'

"I'm not here to be a pop act," he said. "Chillin' is a pop song and I'm not here to be a pop act. I enjoyed what Gaga brings to the table and I wanted to make something that could be a lot of fun, but I don't think I'll be going back down that road ever."

Wale explained that he had recorded several very personal tracks for the album, his favorite of which almost didn't make the cut. The song, 'Shades,' is a discussion of negative self image, where the rapper discusses his negative feelings toward people with lighter skin than his, when growing up. "Shades' isn't necessarily about my resentfulness," the rapper explained. "At one point I thought I was resenting them, but it was a lack of confidence in myself that led me to behave the way I did at that time in my life."

Wale was determined to make sure that the song saw official release, despite the misgivings of his label. "I had to fight to get that on the album because I don't think a lot of people at the label understood it."

The D.C. rapper explained that he had other songs dealing with similarly difficult themes, which the executives at his label were also unable to understand. "There's not a lot of ethnicity in the industry, as far as the higher-ups go, and those guys are great at marketing and doing what they do, but a lot of times, records like 'Ice & Rain,' 'Family Affair,' these are all records that I wanted to get on the album, but I couldn't. 'Shades' was one where I was going to refuse to do anything if it didn't come out."

Pick up 'Attention Deficit' on Nov. 10.