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Wale Shares Advice J.Cole Gave Him Before NPR Tiny Desk Performance

The “On Chill” rapper revealed how his fellow emcee encouraged him.

Rapper Wale made his debut on NPR’s Tiny Desk Fest series on Wednesday, October 30. 

A clip of his performance was shared on Twitter, showing the Washington D.C. rapper revealing the advice fellow emcee J. Cole gave him before the show.

In the preview, Wale, born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, expressed how nervous he was to perform as he didn’t have adequate time to rehearse. But the North Carolina rapper eased his fears, giving him a word of encouragement. 

Wale says Cole told him, “Bro, just do your thing, do your sh*t. It’s your city, you go out and do that motherf*cker.” 

The “On Chill” artist explained how he still felt discouraged, but thanked Cole before playfully addressing the audience.

“Y’all come out, y’all give me this love and it’s not the show love, like the crazy turnt up energy, [it’s the] ‘I got to work in the morning, I’m not turning up’ [energy.] And plus I got some of my superiors watching me.”

He continued:

“But y’all giving me that love, giving me that energy I needed to do this sh*t because we really didn’t get a chance to really put our foot in it the way we wanted to but we still bodied this m*therf*cker, so make some noise for yourselves real quick.” 

Wale’s entire set was live streamed on Wednesday, October 30. According to NPR, his full performance will be available for viewing. A release date of the final product has not been shared. 

Summer Walker recently performed on the Tiny Desk series October 21, singing "Wasted," "Girls Need Love” and "Playing Games." Megan Thee Stallion also made her debut on the series on October 28.

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