S. Samuel
Roc Nation's Wale caused a ruckus over the weekend after performing at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia for using offensively explicit rap lyrics.
According to reports, Wale’s rhymes were viewed as offensive toward local residents.
University of Mary Washington President Rick Hurley has apologized to neighbors who complained about noise and a rapper’s explicit lyrics at an outdoor concert during homecoming festivities. Hurley told The Free Lance-Star that he received complaints from three residents about Saturday night’s performance from rapper Wale. Students had voted to have him perform. Hurley says the university would have held the concert indoors if he had known about the performer’s lyrics. (WDBJ News)
The school’s president submitted a written apology to the nearby citizens.
“I am sorry that a high-spirited weekend on campus ended on such a negative note for some of our closest neighbors who were offended by both the volume and the content of the music,” Hurley wrote yesterday in a letter to the editor of The Free Lance-Star. Wale also has performed at George Washington University, the University of Virginia, Washington & Lee University and James Madison University. UMW has received noise complaints during past homecomings, but Hurley said he’s “more upset about the use of the profanity” this year. The university would’ve held the concert indoors if it had known about the performer’s lyrics, he said. (Fredericksburg News)
Aside from controversy, last August, Wale spoke on competing with artists like Kid Cudi, Drake and Asher Roth.
“One of us got the most record sales, the other one wants the most fame,” Wale explained when asked about competing with Drake, Asher Roth and Kid Cudi. “One of them has the most fame, the other one wants to have the credibility to be a true hip-hop person. One of them is more of a true hip-hop person but the other one is more record sales. It’s just like in the NBA, one guy gets this kind of money but then there’s another guy who plays in the West Coast that makes this kinda money and that sounds good but he wants as much money as him and now this guy wants the same money as LeBron [James] but then LeBron wants as much money as [New York Yankees’] A-Rod, from another sport. Nobody’s ever really satisfied but that’s just human nature though.” (Amarudontv)
Wale’s debut album, Attention: Deficit, landed on the sales chart last November.
Rap newcomer Wale’s long-awaited Attention: Deficit landed on the charts this week debuting at No. 21. After seven days on store shelves, the rapper’s new album shelled out 28,300 copies. (Sales Wrap)
Check out a recent Wale interview below:
