Wale Says Pop Artists Don’t Work With Rappers Unless They’re Charting Or White

In music, fans love to hear a good crossover. When artists from differing genres come together to make hits, it can be a chart-topper or a dumpster fire. Either way, fans seem to enjoy hearing genres collide like when Christina Aguilera and Redman did “Dirrty,” Brad Paisley and LL Cool J gave us “Accidental Racist,” and Nelly and Tim McGraw had everyone singing “Over & Over.”

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Back in 2009, Wale released his debut album Attention Deficit along with his lead single, “Chillin,” featuring none other than pop princess Lady Gaga. The Cool & Dre-produced track came about because the two artists were introduced to one another by Mark Ronson, Wale’s friend and mentor. A fan took to Twitter recently with a quick message to Wale: “work with @ladygaga again.” Others liked and agreed, but the rapper said that things behind the scenes make collaborations more complicated for some artists.

“Y’all got to understand these fantasy features work two ways,” Wale responded. “Pop people don’t wanna work wit us unless we sittin in that top 40 or unless it’s a white rapper .. prove me wrong.” Can you prove him wrong? Let us know what your favorite unlikely collaboration has been over the years and who else you’d like to see link up.