WALE VISTS HIS FAMILY FOR THE FIRST TIME...HOMECOMMING

[Wale with his uncle (left) and father (right)

Maybach Music met the Motherland this past weekend when Wale stepped foot in his father’s home country of Nigeria for the very first time in his life. He was there to perform at a Johnnie Walker event but took the opportunity to get in touch with his roots, having emotional reunions with his family.

When he first stepped off the plane and was making his way out of the airport, he told a reporter that only 15 percent of his family lives in the U.S. and the rest are in Nigeria so he was excited to connect with his people while there.

I feel good. I was excited. I could barely sleep. It’s a real moment to finally be here, man. I’m blessed. I’m excited about it.[...]I’m curious. I’m more curious as to what it’s going to bring to me than what I’m gonna bring. I’m just very alert and really curious about everything from the food to the fashion to the people. The little idiosyncrasies that are within the country. Being that I’m a very family oriented person, only 15 percent of my family lives in the States. Everybody else is here so I got a lot of ground to cover.

During his trip, Wale stopped by Lagos Beat FM radio and revealed that he’s never been to Nigeria because he grew up poor and didn’t have the money to afford a plane ticket out of the States:

I grew up poor. When we lived in DC we lived in the projects. In Maryland we lived in the projects. To get a ticket to Nigeria on a $20,000 yearly income for my family, that wasn’t really…and by the time we started getting money, I’m a knucklehead. A 14-year-old, 15-year-old with a decent job, I’m not gonna save up to go to Nigeria. That’s not how I was thinking when I was at that age. Then I was in college and money [was] tight. Then I get this record deal when I dropped out of school, you running around so much you don’t have time to barely see your own parents at home. It took some time, but I’m here now.

During his show at the Johnnie Walker event, Wale brought out Nigerian artist Sèyi Shay on stage to sing “Bad” with him. He also gave a shout out to his dad during the show while using a Yoruba accent.

“I promise to keep coming back. If y’all will have me, I’ll coming coming back. Shoutout to my dad, Mr. Akintimehin do you want to take a bow for these people now? Haaa Oga!”

Wale, his uncle Bayo and his grandfather

Wale, his grandfather and family