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Wale has never been known for letting things go unaddressed.
Earlier this year, the Washington, D.C. rapper went viral for all the wrong reasons following an awkward moment at the BET Awards. Folarin crossed paths with one of the biggest streamers in the game, Kai Cenat, and the encounter was uncomfortable, to say the least. He asked the streamer if he played video games and suggested they link up sometime.
Cenat appeared dismissive, later on his live stream, telling fans he had no idea who Wale was after viewers were spamming the comments pointing out that he had just bumped into a rapper.
That same night, Wale ran into Cenat again inside the awards show and let him know he made him “look crazy.” Online users quickly weighed in, with many saying the Lotus Flower Bomb rapper was being overly sensitive and pressed someone nearly half his age. The public reaction seemingly took a toll.
During a recent sit-down on Club Shay Shay, the Gifted rapper opened up about how the moment affected his mental health, offering more insight into how the viral interaction impacted him behind the scenes:
“I’m like yo, I’m just saying you (Kai Cenat) made me look crazy. I feel uncomfortable in this room… At that moment, I’m like, ‘Damn, everybody making me the bid (joke) on the internet, just because he didn’t know.’ I was just confused. And then when they said I pressed him, I was like, ‘Oh so that means I got to leave.’ Like I got to go to my hotel for like a couple days.”
Also adding that this interaction with Kai Cenat was living in his head for a few days, “I was upset for like 5 days in a row, so when he (Kai) talked about mental health at the streaming awards, I was like, ‘Yes, yes, yes, mental health, you get it now.”
Wale added that he believes a bigger conversation is needed between the young creators of the streaming world and the OG’s in Hip-Hop.
