While in NY this morning, Wale visited Hot 97…while there, he spoke on releasing The Gifted a week after Kanye, J. Cole and Mac Miller, the artwork, Twitter and this weekend’s Summer Jam.

In addition, Ebro and Co. got Wale to divulge a bit of personal feeling over what was an apparent loss of one of his artists, Tiara Thomas:

I was a casualty of the game. The bitter reality just hit me. It’s all good. Shout out to Tiara Thomas…shout out to Tiara Thomas. She’s a dope artist. She’s an incredible artist. Bad is an incredible record, she wrote it.

Their situation met through [me] I was recording with the situation she’s in now and they met. It’s just the game though. My thing is I don’t really believe in paperwork too soon cause I like to show and prove what I can do. And I ain’t want to scare nobody. Like yo ‘let’s make the music, let’s vibe.’ You live and learn so that’s why I’ll kick myself before I complain about somebody else. It’s the music business! Like a lot of people ain’t ya friend-friend for real sometimes. She got her situation and she’s happy. I learned. I have a big heart. I give give give, I take producers off the street back home and I say, ‘come on, roll with me and we gon get this money. I’m gonna find you a niche’. I do that.

She did what she had to do and what was in her best interest. And I guess that’s what all people do. So shout out to her and her situation.

She’s talented. She’s dope. If you want to support her, you just support her. I’m not going to throw no shade to her or whatever. I learned and she’ll have a great career.