Wale is opening up about what he considers one of the most painful and defining moments of his career — an alleged multimillion-dollar deal that fell apart, one he believed involved Scooter Braun and a lawyer he says betrayed him.
Speaking in a candid interview on The Breakfast Club, the D.C. rapper talked about a pattern he thinks is common in the industry: a major, life-changing blow that hits artists somewhere around six to nine years into their careers. For him, that moment couldn’t have come at a worse time.
“I got a philosophy or like a conspiracy that I think like around anywhere from six to like nine years… something traumatic happens to every single person in this industry that changes you one way or another,” Wale said. “It might make you more optimistic, you know what I’m saying?”
He then revealed the personal ordeal he faced in 2017, right as his album Shine was gaining momentum and his daughter was being born.
“Maybe around the time Shine dropped. I just had my daughter, and I was at her naming ceremony,” Wale said. “I found out I got back-doored on like $3 million at my child’s naming ceremony.”
According to Wale, the whole situation started with a deal he thought was tied to Scooter Braun’s management. However, sources close to Scooter’s team say someone was actually impersonating him in the failed deal.
“I remember storming out on the phone ’cause I signed something that was supposed to be something with Scooter Braun management,” he said. “And then it ended up doing like a breach… was for something like a loophole, and I realized that the lawyer was in on it. Like it was a whole thing, and it changed me.”
Wale didn’t go into more detail about the alleged breach or whether any legal steps were taken afterward, but he made it clear that the situation deeply affected the way he operates in the industry.
The rapper — who has long spoken about issues with trust, label politics, and navigating the business side of hip-hop — hinted that this moment marked a major turning point for him both personally and professionally.
