Wale thinks that “hyperbole” has taken over online discourse, especially when it comes to hip-hop.
In an interview with Jordan Rose for Complex News, which can be seen in full above, Wale spoke about maintaining longevity in hip-hop and addressed the changing landscape of music consumption and social media. Asked about the way music consumption has changed hip-hop discourse, he suggested that things have gotten significantly worse because there’s too much hyperbole.
“The past 15 years, everybody’s had an opinion a the internet, you know?” he said. “I think they’re so loud now. We’re just in a room full of like a gazillion people screaming. A million album reviews, 15 minutes the album’s out… Hyperbole [has] done irreparable damage to discourse on anything. Sports, football, basketball… Some people only understand hyperbole; it’s either a classic or the worst. I think it’s cooked us a little bit.”
One example he used as to how bad hyperbole has gotten on social media is people doubting the legacy of Kobe Bryant. “They do it a lot more with music, because it’s subjective,” he said. “That might be one of my most frustrating things about music, or art in general, but especially Black music. People will be like, ‘That’s trash.’ Just because they don’t like the person.”
By contrast, he said that there’s a level of objectiveness when it comes to success in sports. For example, people can say what they want about LeBron James, but it doesn’t take away from his four championship rings. “In hip-hop, you could write a song that has so much depth into it… But because the popping reactor or streamer hasn’t dived into it…”
Despite his criticism, he said he does respect streamers and said they’re like the 106 & Park of this generation. “They got powerful very quickly,” he said. “The sustainability of it all, I’m not sure. When you put someone like Kai [Cenat] on the cover of Billboard, you’re saying that this person is a pillar of music. … That’s fine and dandy, but does he want to be?” Streamers such as Kai Cenat and PlaqueBoyMax have been major influencers in the hip-hop space over the last few years, with figures like Drake and countless others collaborating with them to promote new music or tours.
Wale also remarked that he always introduces himself as if no one knows him when he walks into a room, perhaps referring to his 2025 BET Awards interaction with Cenat. During the encounter, Cenat didn’t recognize him immediately and mispronounced his name as “Wally.”
After the awkward moment went viral, Wale dropped a comment on a post with a clip from the livestream and said he wasn’t sure why Cenat didn’t recognize him because they had met before. “This is crazy,” wrote Wale. “I didn’t know we was bein filmed both times..we played in a celebrity football game last year …I was reallly [sic] confused.”
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