Wale may be celebrated for his pen game, but he also has a reputation for blocking people online — and he’s finally shared why.
On the latest episode of the Effective Immediately podcast, the DMV rapper — who has a complicated love-hate dynamic with social media — said some users actually enjoy getting blocked by him and treat it like a “good thing” to show off to their followers.
“But they used to be like, ‘Yo, look y’all. He blocked me. I don’t know why this person blocked me.’ I’m like, ‘Because you’re annoying. I see your timeline. I could tell,'” Wale told co-hosts DJ Hed and Gina Views around the 51-minute mark.
“The first time I started blocking [was] because I’m trying to push my algorithm. I know that I got to do double work to get into the algorithms,” he said. “I got to promote my shit, I got to spam my shit, n***as discovering me every day. Somebody pop on be like, ‘Failure,’ and I’ll be like, ‘How?’ and then they be like, ‘Oh my God, you responded to me, you’re a loser.’ And then I’ll be like, ‘Okay, block. Forget it, forget it.'”
Wale went on to call out the “audacity” and “gall” some users have when trying to bait him into online drama.
“I represent a n***a that’s really like outside pushing his music and believe in his craft. I represent that. Like, you gonna put this down? And I just be like, ‘The audacity of you n***as.’ Like, but I just been putting up — like that block party is jumping right now. My shit like Coachella right now.”
“‘I could be part of your little lore of celebrities that blocked you. Congratulations, my n***a,'” he added.
He also admitted that sometimes his blocks depend on his mood: “Even if I read your shit wrong, it might get blocked on accident.”
Later in the interview, the Everything is Fine rapper said J. Cole is someone he could see himself battling in a Verzuz — though he’s not sure the format really fits him.
