Wallie the Sensei
Written by Adilene Gomez Santiago, Andrew Mason & Michael Pofsky
Photos by Noah Cudal
Compton's Golden Child
On June 19, 2024, Kendrick Lamar brought out the West Coast at the Pop Out: Ken and Friends at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. He captivated the crowd with powerful delivery as he performed his legendary catalog, including hip-hop’s top diss track, “Not Like Us.”
K.Dot brought out several UNDRGRND alumni, such as RJMrLA, Storm DeBarge, AzChike, Rucci, 310babii and others. Delivering a memorable set was Wallie The Sensei, one of the few artists that performed on stage without any backtrack. In fact, Wallie was the only artist to perform acapella that night, as he sang his top track, “03 Flow” without the instrumental, demonstrating his unique style and stage presence.
“I just came out with no beat, all vocals. I went half of the song acapella and then half dropped the beat,” Wallie said. “I thought that shit would be kind of cool and it turned out good.”
Hailing from Compton, CA, Wallie has been making waves in the music industry since the late 2010s, reaching a new height after the release of his hit "03 Flow," titled in homage to rapper 03 Greedo. The track has garnered over 11M streams on Spotify, with the official music video amassing an impressive 23 million views on YouTube.
With such promising success, Wallie has been motivated to make changes in both his professional and personal lives. One area in particular, was sobering up.
”Being sober, I feel like it’s the responsible thing to try. I think it's crazy that I never was sober,” Wallie said. “I’d go years without sobering up for at least a couple of weeks and now it just feels good. I feel better health wise and my thoughts are a little more clear. I feel like I can see exactly where I want to be versus everything being based on impulse or emotions.”
UNDRGRND catches Wallie amidst a two-year album hiatus. However, Compton’s ‘Golden Child’ has been working on major collaboration projects that have yet to be released. According to Wallie, he has been cooking up with Kalan.FrFr, G Perico, Savi the 3rd, and even more mainstream acts like Ty Dolla $ign and G Herbo.
While we wait for his next full-length release, Wallie continues to flood his fans with new singles, build his relationship with Los Angeles-based streetwear brand ‘Sinner Seeking,’ and has planned a clothing drop of his own tied to his upcoming project.
Follow Wallie the Sensei on Instagram at @walliethesensei.