Nominated for Album of the Year at this year’s BET Awards, Wale’s eighth studio album Everything is A Lot. is his most personal yet. “It’s one of my best bodies of work and the recognition from a Black institution is important to me,” he tells ESSENCE exclusively.
Full of yearning and introspection, the album is a reflection of his getting ready process for the evening. And, while you may expect an award-winning artist’s dressing room to be bass-boosted, “I like quiet,” he says, with candles burning. “The rest of my life is filled with music or conversation, my brain has melodies on loop until the end of time… so when I’m getting ready for a high energy event like an awards show, silence and calm is great.”
Making peace and presence part of his preparation, he says being centered before he walks out the door is a state he exists in throughout the day. “You carry that with you no matter what’s happening around you,” he says. The other part, however, is a timeless outfit. Partial to classic silhouettes, Wale can’t go wrong with the comfort and class of a Gucci suit.
“I did a blue Gucci suit to the Grammys this year so for BET we’re going chocolate,” he says. It’s a suit his stylist, Jae Hall, calls a timeless silhouette with refined, modern finishes. “A pinstripe double-breasted suit carries an enduring elegance that exists beyond trends, and that balance of classic tailoring and contemporary execution is a language we’re consistently drawn to,” Hall says.
Styling Wale in the middle of his tour with Smino, Hall describes the process as meticulous and intentional. “Styling an awards show in the middle of a tour comes with its own set of challenges,” he says, with Wale taking a pit stop in Los Angeles before heading to Detroit. But, “we’ve stayed grounded in the ideas that have guided us from the beginning: taste over trends, and collaboration over ego.”
In on the collaboration was hairstylist and director of education at Cécred, Dr. Kari Williams, PhD. “We’ve been trying to experiment a lot this year with locks and shorter styles,” Wale says, which is Williams’ favorite part. “There’s definitely pressure because we’re constantly creating something fresh, and oftentimes in a short time frame,” she says. But, “we bounce ideas off each other, and he trusts my execution, which makes the creative process so much fun.”
Wale has locs reaching the middle of his back, but Williams still manages to give the illusion they’re shorter. “For the BET Awards, I wanted to lean into a textured chin-length bob that felt modern and cool,” she says, while making the style more masculine and fresh. To achieve the look, she started with a deep scalp cleanse using the products from Wale’s unreleased haircare brand.
[We] nourished the scalp and locs using products Wale is developing that are formulated with ingredients like ceramides, niacinamide, avocado oil, rosemary oil, and black seed oil to support scalp health, hydration, and natural shine,” she says. Wale adds, “I’ve had my locs for a long time, so I’m really intentional about keeping them healthy and hydrated.”
Then, using a coiling method, she twisted each loc into itself which shortened the style into a natural-textured chin-length bob. The look is one of his most experimental styles, which shows just how versatile locs really are. “Being invited into these milestone moments is something I never take for granted,” Williams says.
Between shows, getting his hair done for the BET Awards was a moment to breathe. “Hair is self-care, and creating that peaceful space before such a big moment is just as important as the finished style,” she says. For Hall, these moments are part of a lasting archive. “Years from now, someone can search the 2026 BET Awards red carpet and revisit the work exactly as it happened,” he says. “There’s something incredibly meaningful about creating moments that live on well beyond the night itself.”
Now, as Wale wraps up his North American Everything Is A Lot Tour tomorrow, he’s giving his all for the final two shows. But, he still has new stuff coming. “I won’t say too much yet, but definitely keep an eye out,” he says. Needless to say, haircare is self-care. And, “you take care of yourself consistently, and the rest takes care of itself.”
Below for an inside peek at Wale’s BET Awards 2026 getting ready process.
Dr. Kari’s loc coiling method
The hairstyling process
A first look at Wale’s new haircare line. Shhh!
The unreleased products behind his loc bob
Scalp oiling with his product samples
Facial grooming is part of haircare
Well-groomed to match a classic suit
Facial first!
The secret behind Wale’s glow
The patterns behind his look
Underneath the suit and tie
The classic suit sihouette
An accent of red
Final hair touch-ups
All the pulls: Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega, and Saint Laurent!
Getting the accessories in order
Last-minute tailoring for the perfect fit
Jae Hall gets him right
Behold! The loc bob
The final red carpet look
