Wale may not be that guy anymore but to say he was NEVER popular, never had hits, and was wack is just plain hating. Wale was NEVER wack, he had an abrasive personality which was to his detriment but at one point he was second ONLY to Rick Ross in popularity on MMG and women did indeed love him.
Wale’s issue, besides being super sensitive is that i’m not sure he cultivated quite a dedicated a fanbase as someone like Cole, Drake, or even Big Krit. Jay-Z and Roc Nation were geniuses for putting Cole on tour for two years straight at the beginning of his career because that resulted in a worldwide fanbase that roots for him and will support anything he does for life. Drake and his writers are hits machines so he can always attain new fans whilst the fans who fukked with him because of So Far Gone will stay loyal because he’s still a viable commodity. Somebody like Krit never really reached the widespread heights but was able to thread through both the Mainstream and underground and cultivate a dedicated fanbase. I don’t know if Wale ever built that sort of fanbase that’ll fukk with him through thick n thin