Wale has a theory as to why Complex magazine left The Gifted off their "Top 50 Albums of 2013" list, and it has nothing to do with them simply not liking his album. 

A past beef with Kid Cudi is the reason Folarin suspects his sophomore effort wasn't recognized. The MMG star shared his thoughts on that with Hot 97's Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg this week. "I’m a bit of conspiracy theorist," he calmly said of going ballistic on the publication last week. "I believe that me and [Kid Cudi’s] fallout had something to do with a lack of support [from Complex]."

Back before they were famous, the two met performing in New York City at an event for Michael Jordan and became fast friends, Wale recalled. "I remember he [Cudi] was like, ‘Yo, I don’t wear Jordans. All I wear is Bapes,’ and we just bonded from that moment on."

The relationship disintegrated after Cudster famously responded to a slight lyrical jab from Wale in a Complex cover story, "It's not a conspiracy theory, we don't f--k with you musically." 

To this day, Wale believes the publication is responsible for "perpetuating" the beef. "At this time, I'm just losing my first record deal, so I'm in an even worse place," he said of the Cudi rift. "I just remember [Complex saying], 'Oh we don't rock with you musically,' and it went viral. And I remember being like, 'D--n, you're getting my friend to kick me when I'm down? Y'all are perpetuating it. Y'all are instigating it."

He later admitted to being "hurt on so many levels" because Cudi was "a close friend" at one time. "I just feel like that magazine, which he has five or six covers from, is perpetuating this and making it a thing — more than what it could be. Moving forward, they just kind of had this elitist, like, 'We don’t like you,' thing."

Elsewhere in the interview, Wale apologized for dissing Juicy J's Stay Trippy album during last week's tirade. He acknowledged having a bad temper, which he believes makes him a target. The Roc Nation MC explained why the list is even relevant to him in the first place. "I have a very selfless approach to this music thing," said the "Clappers" rapper. "I wanna do this for the people for real …maybe kind on some civil rights stuff. I want people to look at him like 'yo he's intellectual, he fly and he be spittin', and he's creative as hell. I want to represent that." 

Wale also revealed a conversation with Jay Z who called to tell him how his "ego" inadvertantly made the Complex list "important."

BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.

Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

(Photos from left: Gary Miller/FilmMagic, Jason Kempin/Getty Images)