Everybody has a different feeling about getting on and adjusting to fame. How are you dealing with it?

I don’t really take it seriously, man. A lot of these dudes, they take their success too seriously. It’s about paying dues, man. Some of the young dudes might have more of a buzz than some of the older dudes that have been in it, but that doesn’t mean that you’re more relevant than them. If they talk to you, you’ve got to show them that respect.

Noreaga called me yesterday and we talked on the phone for an hour. That meant so much to me because he’s an O.G. in the game. I talk to Bun B everyday. [I ask things like] “How can I become a better artist? How can I be a better person? How can I be as respected as you one day?” I think a lot of these dudes ain’t really taking…they not really understanding, dog…we’re new, man. I’m 24. I got a long way to go before I can start acting like I’m famous. Where I come from they’ll call you out. We can’t walk around like we’re too good. I don’t play for the Redskins or the Wizards. I’m a rapper. I put my shoes on and my pants on like everybody else does. I go to the schools, I don’t ask for no money. I sign autographs. I stay there until everybody has two autographs because I feel that you have to do that. There are people that would die to be in the position that I’m in right now.

I’m on a 40-city tour man. I ain’t going to lie, I made a lot of money on the road but this is promo man…. This is promo before the promo. I’m doing it because I know I have to. If I believed in my fame where I accepted my fame to that point, I wouldn’t do it. It’s not about the money. It’s about paying your dues. It’s about connecting with the people. They be like, “Why do you Twitter so much, Wale?” Because I want my fans to know that I’m a real person, man. I don’t have a job. I don’t sit at a desk all day, so why not talk to my fans, just at work? Why not talk to my fans at school, Twittering when they should be studying? I don’t have nothing else to do but be for the people, man. Last year this time I had the biggest buzz as an unsigned artist, this time, I don’t. The people that are hot now, next thing there’s going to be somebody else. You gotta make it where you connecting with the people, the whole time, because when that other person comes, you gotta be ready for [some fans] to be like, I like this person more than you. If you don’t have any level of humility then they’re not going to respect you. They’re not going to care.

Via Vibe