Wale Wowed By Katy Perry, Disappointed By Kelly Clarkson At 2013 Grammys

Wale went through musical hell when he was dropped from Interscope Records after his debut LP, Attention Deficit, didn't live up to expectations. The Washington, D.C., spitter bounced back though, with his Maybach Music-helmed Ambition, and this year, even earned himself his very first Grammy nomination off the back of the album's big single "Lotus Flower Bomb."

The Double M Genius didn't win the Best Rap Song award that he was up for, but he still had the time of his life at the 2013 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Luckily for MTV News, Wale checked in with us before and after the show to tell us all about it.

"[The red carpet] was incredible. I got a chance to walk with my brother Meek [Mill]. You gotta realize with stuff like this, you're representing hip-hop culture. They don't pick all of us so we do our best to represent the culture the best way we can. There were a lot of people on that red carpet. I saw J.Lo, Beyoncé, Rihanna, Katy Perry, ahhh! I never dated a white girl before in my life, but that is one beautiful girl! I'm still thinking about it. As a rapper, I pride myself on my imagination: She left a lot to my imagination, and my imagination completely ran wild. She looked incredible.

I wore a Yves Saint Laurent blazer, Givenchy jeans and Givenchy sneaker boots, with a Dolce shirt under. Chill, light, comfortable. I might have to breakout the [Nike] Foamposites for the after party, though.

Seeing this representation of hip-hop as a whole is just an incredible energy right now that we have and a unity that you see. We battle each other, but when we get around these [mainstream] crowds, we kinda unite, so I'm just rooting for everybody to win.

Katy Perry, the Bob Marley joint was dope. I seen a couple of long faces, a lot of people weren't so politically correct after losing, but I ain't gonna say no names. I was cool after I ain't win, though. That Watch the Throne album won three Grammys, not too shabby. Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake, they call the Grammys and tell them when they're gonna perform.

I didn't like the Kelly Clarkson back-handed comments to Miguel. I didn't like that at all. I just feel like our urban music is belittled, a little bit. Not trying to offend nobody on the committee, but for a record as big as 'Adorn,' and it to not be presented as a real performance onstage; it was almost like a segue to an award. Again, I don't want to offend anybody on the committee, but that wasn't a very good representation of our music because 'Adorn' is gonna be around for the next 30 years.

I'm at dinner right now with Meek and some friends and we're just talking about, 'You gotta get it.' I use it as motivation. You're talking to somebody that's been dropped before, and I got a lot of horror stories. A lot of people that are calling me begging to get on my album or begging to produce records for me, wasn't even answering my phone calls when I was going through what I was going through. I use that as motivation. I don't really catch feelings about none of this sh--!"