Wale Lays Back On Emo Haters, "I Don't Gotta Try To Out Cool Everybody, Every Song"

Maybach Music Group's Wale recently opened up about injecting emotion into his music and why he does not sweat over getting seen as an "emo" emcee.

Talking with New York's Hot 97 radio personality Angie Martinez, Wale defended his image.

"I'm just myself," Wale said. "I don't have anything that I gotta prove -- I know what I am to my city. I know what I to my fans. I don't gotta try to out cool everybody every song. I gotta give emotion." (Hot 97)

Last June, Young Money's Drake said he felt no shame in making emotional records.

"I only really know how to do one thing. I don't know how to make generic songs about the struggle and things that aren't about me, I just know how to make songs that are about me," Drake told FADER writer Judnick Mayard. "If I make a song that's emo or emotional, then I guess yeah, I'm going to stick to that. I make songs about my life, because if you want me to be honest with you, that's the best way I know how. The things I've experienced and the things I've lived. That's what I like to do." (The FADER)

Recently, Slaughterhouse's Joe Budden took on the emo debate.

"There's pros and cons of everything. This is the way that I began rapping, that I began writing. It was always very therapeutic, it was always very introspective, it was always very personal. And that was more so for me, not even the fans. So it's like a real blessing that fans were able to appreciate that and gravitate towards that and accept that and expect that from me. It's worked out in my favor. It's not a gimmick, it's not gimmicky. It's not just some regular rap bullsh*t that a n*gga's doing because he sees he's having success in that field or in that lane. I think it's all very genuine and it's all very sincere, and I think the fans are able to tell that." (Its My Culture)

In September 2010, G.O.O.D. Music rapper Kid Cudi stood up for his emo image.

"DMX is emo and he's one of the realest n*ggas in the game. Emotion is what hip-hop thrives on. Don't you want your music to have emotion in it? People like to always throw some negative cloud over it. Doesn't even make sense. Jeezy is emo. When that n*gga be rapping, you feel it. You know that n*gga's talking some real sh*t...People are quick to judge my singles one by one, and when the album drop, those be the a**holes that are like, 'Oh sh*t, I totally underestimated Cudi, this sh*t is crazy.' I told you, dumb**: You can't look at snippets from an Oliver Stone film and be able to critique it." (Complex)