Wale dropped his fifth studio album “Shine” in April of 2017, and between now and then he’s been through a whole heck of a lot. It’s something the rapper revealed Thursday on Twitter, a little before he dropped his new LP “Wow… That’s Crazy” on Friday.
Wale left his former label Atlantic Records after “Shine” came out and it sold poorly. Today, he’s on Warner Bros. Records, who will release the new project. It’s something the 35-year-old is clearly excited about, and he also thanked his fans for supporting him through the tough times.
“I been an open book to y’all on here for better or worse,” he tweeted. “I been through so much since my last project … I lost over an M on some legal stuff. I lost friends and almost my sanity. But y’all held this thing together … tonight I release this balloon.”
In a separate tweet, The DMV rhymer acknowledged World Mental Health Day, which was on Thursday, Oct. 10, and he wrote “Be kind have empathy.” And it’s not the first time he’s supported mental health or chose to be vocal about it.
Because in August, Wale spoke in detail about the need for proper mental treatment, especially for artists, who he said face a unique set of challenges.
“I think that record deals should come with, like, mental health insurance, to be honest,” he told HipHop-N-More. “I think it should be part of it. The road to success is not like — there’s no map, you know what I’m saying? And you can spiral at any time.”
“It’s hard to keep yourself in check,” he added. “Because there’s a lot of enablers, and the thing that’s even worse than enablers now is people who are so determined to not be an enabler, that all they do is they think they giving you tough love, but they kicking you when you’re down.”
