Wale Says Kendrick Lamar Doesn’t Answer His Calls, Jay Rock Responds

When social networking platforms took over during the 2000s, the promise was simple: this would be a way to cut out the middle man, to provide a platform for artists to communicate directly with their fans. Of course, there are still plenty of entertainers whose tweets are drafted by PR teams, and many music fans still enjoy reading coverage from traditional publications (please subscribe to XXL). For those rappers who chose to go it alone, there would be obvious pitfalls--Twitter has not been kind to Meek Mill since he used the medium to call out Drake for using ghostwriters. But others have endeared themselves to fans with the short, personal messages. While Wale has been criticized by some for being too emotional on Twitter, he's embraced the label, and his fans seem to enjoy the honesty.  For example, last night (Dec. 6), he was engaging fans who were speculating about today's Grammy nominations:

But when his name was absent from the nominations, some Twitter users felt the need to lash out at the Washington, D.C. native. Wale responded to most of the barbs with tongue-in-cheek agreement:

After a while, Wale took on a more serious tone, criticizing the media and industry apparatuses that he aruges control such things:

Things got more heated when the conversation turned to Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, which helped score him a staggering 11 nominations, including one for Album of the Year. Wale said that his prior album, Gifted, exhibited many of the same qualities critics and fans praised Butterfly for:

After a fan suggested Wale and Lamar should tour together, the former replied that Kendrick hasn't returned his calls since he was previously nominated for good kid, m.A.A.d. city.

That seems to be what sent Jay Rock over the edge; the eldest member of TDE lashed out at Wale, saying, "I SEE WHY U NOT MMG," a reference to Meek Mill's attempt to ex-communicate Wale from the Maybach Music Group collective earlier this year.

At press time, Wale had yet to respond.