Yesterday, Wale made history by becoming the first rapper to open the State of the Union preshow.
We’re not sure what’s more cool, the fact that the HBCU Buzz Top 30 Under 30 member got the incredible opportunity to perform and open Obama’s last the State of the Union, or how awesome our president is.
The country in general, and in particular the black college community, it seems, will miss Obama after he finishes his last term in office.
The DC native said he was humbled by the opportunity and wanted to thank the president for the experience, “The leader of the free world having a rapper in the White House. God bless him. Hip-hop forever,” he said.
Wale is no stranger to the White House grounds and has been especially chummy with President Barack Obama and the First Family for a while now. The Washington, D.C. rapper made history after opening President Obama’s State of the Union address with a performance, marking the first time a rapper has done so.
While Wale might be the last artist one would expect to warm up the SOTU crowd, it appeared the veteran performer took on the challenge and rocked out as expected. If you haven’t seen a live performance Maybach Music Group artist, he’s definitely a pro on the big stage.
Wale, who attended Virginia State University on a football scholarship and then transferred to Bowie State University before taking rap more serious, was joined by another HBCU alumnus at the event. Terrence J, a North Carolina A&T University grad, was also in attendance and helped host the State of the Union preshow.
Following an introduction by Terrence J, Wale performed a few songs requested by the president himself, including the hits “Chillin,” “The White Shoes,” and “LoveHate Thing”:
At the end of the performance, he also revealed that his fifth album will be called Shine and is due this year.
Wale previously visited the White House over the summer to perform at First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Reach Higher” initiative, and was in attendance for Obama’s gun control announcement earlier this month.
On his performance, Hip-Hop Wired writer D.L. Chandler said, “Wale made the most of his moment, and even palled around with some of the political elite in the building, including taking a selfie with Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden’s better half.”
You can watch the entire performance in the video below:
