Wale Thinks More DJs Should Be Celebrated for Their Techniques Rather Than Popularity

In the early days of hip-hop, a DJ had to do more than just play records to get respect. Scratching, blending, rocking parties and taking risks by breaking unknown songs from new artists or respected vets were all a part of the turn table specialists repertoire. Wale misses the good ol' days.

The DMV MC feels like being a DJ nowadays is more like a popularity contest. Early this morning (April 2), he got frustrated enough with the state of how things are going in the DJ world and decided to share his thoughts on Twitter. "DJs used to be reluctant to play stuff too early. Now ,they scared to play it if it doesn't have YouTube numbers. Long live #auxchordBAE," he tweeted.

Continuing, he added, "The rapper Isn't more important than the DJ. The DJ isn't more important than the people. 'Just my thoughts'...Hiphop should celebrate DJs 4 their timing,knowledge of NEW and old music ,their reinterpretations of familiar songs.NOT their IG followers...DJing an art form .PERIOD. It's not a popularity contest not a 'press play and get paid' grab. Express ya thoughts/ relay your vibe sonically."

Folarin is currently working on his new album, Shine. He recently announced that the cover art for the project was completed by a talented fan he met on Twitter named VHS. “Working on this cover with Wale was very fast-paced because he knew early what he wanted and how he wanted it executed,” VHS told XXL. “I was nervous for the most part ’cause this is the biggest thing I’ve done thus far but Wale is a cool dude. He helped the process go by smoothly and also gave me some words of encouragement.”

Check out what Ralph had to say about DJs in full below.

See Wale's Tweets About Celebrating Talented DJs