Dear Wale…

Dear Wale: We Feel Your Pain

Kendrick Lamar Shakes Up The Super Bowl With Bold Drake Diss And Surprise Guests

Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl 59 halftime performance was nothing short of legendary, leaving fans buzzing with surprise cameos and bold moments that took his long-running feud with Drake to new heights. Kicking off with an unreleased song snippet and followed by “Squabble Up” from his latest album GNX, Kendrick immediately set the tone for a game-changing performance. Fans eagerly waited to see if Kendrick would play his diss track Not Like Us, especially with Drake's ongoing lawsuit against him and his label for defamation and harassment. Lamar's performance included an unexpected appearance by SZA and a quirky cameo from Serena Williams, along with Samuel L. Jackson’s comedic interruptions, all building the suspense around the Drake drama. In the middle of his performance, Kendrick turned up the heat, looking straight into the camera and directly addressing Drake with his famous lyrics, “I heard you like them young," as fans held their breath. Despite the tension, Kendrick censored himself when it came time to call Drake a "certified lover boy" and avoided saying “pedophile,” which had been widely speculated. Social media lit up with mixed reactions, with some fans mocking the performance as a "mid mashup" and others noting the intense hostility toward Drake. With the hashtag #KendrickBowl trending, it’s clear that Kendrick’s performance was a cultural moment that pushed boundaries—but has he gone too far, or is this just another chapter in hip-hop history? Only time will tell, and Drake has yet to respond.

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On Monday afternoon, things popped off a little on social media when the 2016 GRAMMY nominations were announced. I have my gripes with the relationship between Hip-Hop and award shows in general – I think we all do – but that wasn’t even the main talking point of the day. Wale took to Twitter to voice his sarcastic surprise at not being nominated at all, stating that there are double standards demonstrated when it comes to him and other rappers. He even took a jab at Kendrick in the chain of discussion, resulting in some unpleasant words from Jay Rock. The worst part of it all is that he’s not wrong.

The Album About Nothing was released back in March to lukewarm commercial performance. It sold about 60,000 less copies in the first week than The Gifted which is a little disappointing by anyone’s standards, only adding fuel to the fire lit by people who feel the need to dismiss Wale as a top tier rapper on the forefront of the game. Numbers aside though, the album was a triumph. Sonically, it’s arguably his best to date and concepts like ‘The Helium Balloon’ are GRAMMY worthy indeed. So why the lack of accolades?

The truth is, there’s no valid reason. His talent has never ever been in question. Sure, in comparison with his rapper friends, Wale doesn’t seem as “media-friendly” on a human level but it’s a grueling business. His sensitive personality and instinct to be honest aren’t right for the industry and that clash makes him an easy target, especially when he expresses his thoughts publicly. Often the butt of jokes, Wale gives them power by acknowledging them and the vicious cycle kicks off.

When it stopped being a joke for me though was when Wale visited The Breakfast Club at the end of October. Charlamagne asked him what will happen if he never achieves the level of success that his peers have and his response was sobering. “Simple. I blow my brains out one day”. It’s fair to say that there might have been a comedic element to it but for that to cross his mind with so little thought is worrying.

My advice to Wale would probably be to take a step away from everything for a while to get his mind straight. Success is relative so despite the fact that he’s a star to us, he hasn’t achieved half of what he intends to in his career and knowing that is maybe having a negative effect on him. He’s aware that he deserves more and that’s his biggest gift… and his biggest curse.

Let’s give Wale the flowers while he can still smell them.

– by Akaash Sharma