Today, the Washington, DC festival Broccoli City announced unveiled its lineup. The bill features a whole lot of big names in rap, R&B, and afrobeats. 21 Savage and Summer Walker are slated to headline the festival, and the bill also features Ari Lennox, Wizkid, Lil Durk, Gunna, Rico Nasty, Don Tolliver, Jeezy, Larry June, Tems, Masego, and Babyface Ray, among others. The show was also supposed to feature the temperamental hometown rap star Wale, but Wale now says that he's pulling out of the festival.
Less than two hours after Broccoli City unveiled its lineup, Wale tweeted that he was pulling out of the show. When someone asked him why, Wale simply answered, "Respect is why." In later tweets, Wale insists that he doesn't care about whether he's headlining and that he's not throwing "a tantrum." He says that it's "principal" and "messaging." (He hasn't said anything about being too low on the festival poster, though it's pretty easy to jump to that conclusion.) Wale also says that the music business has been disrespecting him for too long and that various forces have been trying to take him out.
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488556866238038025
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488557982883401735
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488578443478458371
Nobody ever fights for me . We got while magazines tried to take me out . Labels . They gon say I’m cryin when I defend myself but it’s only cuz nobody else does .
— Wale (@Wale) February 1, 2022
Never said nothin bout headlining . U not checkin the facts . U should prolly delete this until u have facts .
— Wale (@Wale) February 1, 2022
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488563662763794439
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488610843780530176
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488613766828863490
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488618514088931332
https://twitter.com/Wale/status/1488620014299136006
Broccoli City goes down 5/7-8 at RFK Stadium Festival Grounds. Wale won't be there.
