A solid congratulation is in order for rapper Wale.

On Tuesday, January 12, Wale became the first rapper to ever open a State of the Union address.

The DC native opened up the speech with some of his hits like Chillin, The White Shoes, and LoveHate Thing, all of which President Obama requested.

When Wale received the request to perform, he was immediately humbled. “The leader of the free world having a rapper in the White House. God bless him. Hip-hop forever.”

This also was not Wale’s first invitation to White House. He had joined forces with First Lady Michelle Obama to support her “Reach Higher” initiative with a special performance, and by speaking to students about the importance of furthering their education and seeking help from career services.

During his performance, he announced that his fifth album, Shine, would be released this year.

Make sure you see the video below.

 

 

(Photo by Kyle Gustafson / For The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Author

  • Travis Henry is a senior at Rutgers University studying Communication, with a concentration in Strategic Public Relations and Public Communication, and French. Currently, he is looking at the relationship between consumer brands and African-American youth and how the Black-white racial segregation has manifested online. When he is not doing research at school or writing at work, he finds himself “curating the human experience” via his magazine DWNTWN and editing his school’s magazine Voice. He sees himself in the future finding a career that hybrids music, activism, media, and writing.