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  • » Name: Amanda Bassa
  • » Location: VA
  • » Member Since: 09/21/07
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The Undisputed Truth

Kind Of a Big Deal


February 20, 2008 | Tags: wale
Well, your girl has been silent lately, huh? Rest assured though, my silence is not a sign of dormancy. I’ve been out making moves, and seeking out some fresh info about things that I know some of the regulars around here may be interested in. One of these moves involved me taking up the precious time of that one local artist that every one of you should know about by now if you follow my words with at least minimal effort: Wale. So peep the following interview and take a trip into the mind of an artist who is on the verge of blowing the fuck up on the music scene. I mean come on, it’s the first post-Valentines Day work week – what else are you going to be doing online to pass the time anyway? I know you’re all too temporarily broke to be online shopping or whatever it is you do when you’re “working”. Oh, and shouts to bananaclipse on the last minute inspirational tip. Good lookin out.

Amanda: So you just returned from Los Angeles for a trip to the Grammy awards. How was it?
Wale: Great man. I put together the last piece of the people that I needed to meet to put together my perfect album, and that was Pharrell. We talked for a minute on Rodeo Drive where we bumped into eachother. We talked for about fifteen minutes in the middle of the street. So, that was cool. And the homie Mark – you know my labelmate, the person who runs my label, won three Grammys. It was very inspirational.

A: Pharrell? You planning on keeping it local with DMV artists?
Wale: Man, Pharrell already know. Pusha T? Look out for the record. I got a crazy, crazy, joint I did with two people. One is from Texas, one from Virginia. It’s crazy. Crazy!

A: I heard you’re going to be on The Roots’ upcoming LP as well. What’s good with that?
Wale: I mean it’s a great record, you know? Yeah. It’s a great record.

A: You shouted out Black Thought on 100 Miles and Running. So did he reach out to you because of that?
Wale: They just liked my stuff, you know what I’m saying? It was like a mutual respect. And now it’s just like whenever they talk, I listen.

A: Hm…”Nike Boots”. How does it feel to pretty much have the theme song for a shoe?
Wale: It was a good look. It was just the other side of Wale…there’s the trendsetting, tastemaker Wale that’s the one that’s more exposed. But the other side of Wale is just the Wale that walks around D.C. and Maryland all the time in Nike boots. The street narrator side of Wale doesn’t really get exposed as much, but on this mixtape [Mixtape About Nothing] it’ll probably come out more.

A: Explain the Nike boot thing to people that may not be from around here and not understand it as much.
Wale: It’s pretty much a metaphor for the dark state of mind of a person that’s within the confines of D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. You know, the unimpressed, dark, unmovable, unscratchable…

A: A lot of people are saying that you’re putting D.C. on the map. You’re the one to really do it, it’s all you, etc…
Wale: You know the thing is that I used to be caught up with that “putting D.C. on the map”, and doin’ it, and being the first, but now I just say “man…”. I had a long talk with Jay and he just said “make the best music you can make”. And at the end of the day you have to take a step back and say, “yo, that’s all I really can do. Just make the best music I can make.” That’s it. I mean I love where I’m from, but I’m not going to sit up here and…you know. Because then you lose sight of the common goal, which is to make great music. Timeless music.

A: But with a mindstate like that, how do you react when people compare you to artists like Lupe Fiasco? “Wale is the next Lupe,” and all of that stuff.
Wale: Diehard Lupe fans are going to be offended by that. And then they’re already going to make their judgements about me and then not be Wale fans. So it’s unfair to me, and it’s unfair to Lupe. And Wale fans are going to get mad and then be like, “well, you can’t say that”. So I just say let every artist fight his own battle, have his own plight, and walk his own walk. And never compare any two artists, because it’s unfair to both. I personally don’t see any comparisons to Lupe. At all. And Lupe probably doesn’t see any comparisons either.

A: There’s a definite gogo element in your mixtapes, and you’ve been on tracks such as Mambo Sauce’s “Welcome to D.C.” remix, and this has brought gogo to the ears of people who hadn’t been exposed to it previously. Do you think that now is the time that gogo is going to blow up and leave the confines of the district?
Wale: It’s hard to really say. Everything runs its course. Gogo could never blow up, or it could be the phenomenon of 2008-2009, and so on. But you really can’t say, man.

A: Do you think that would be detrimental though? Would going mainstream possibly risk sanitizing the gogo sound?
Wale: I mean, music is music man. It’s made for people to hear. If I make a new genre of music in the confines of this room that holds four or five people in it right now, it’s not like “Oh, well, this music is only for the four or five people in this room right now”, it’s for anybody that’s blessed to have a set of ears, you know what I’m saying?

A: I’m surprised gogo didn’t catch on earlier. Is there any sort of reason in your mind as to why this may be the case?
Wale: Maybe because it’s too regional and people are protective over it. Maybe it’s an acquired taste. I grew up on it. I remember block parties, I remember Junkyard, I remember all those things, and those things are just…we made it up. We made it up and we ran with it before you found out about it, and it took so long for you to find out about it that it became regional. It became something that only we understand.

A: I mean even Spike Lee hooked it up with “Da Butt” in School Daze, but even then, people know that song but they don’t associate it with gogo.
Wale: Yeah, it doesn’t register. Maybe they didn’t follow up well enough.

A: I miss those old days.
Wale: I miss ‘em too, man.

A: What’s good with the debut album? A Wale LP?
Wale: We got guys. I got good mentors, man. I got good people that I can play songs for and give ideas to and get their feedback from. I got guys like Ronson and Just Blaze that I talk to on a creative level every once in a while. And most importantly I got the people that I’ve been hanging with. I have so many songs, so you never know. When the deal is done, and I play the records for whoever it may be, whether it be Def Jam, Capitol, or whoever…I have a good foundation. I got Rique, Dan, Mike – these guys over here that I play the records for, and they have great ears, you know what I mean? And we haven’t let eachother down yet as far as me writing a record and them saying “OK, go to radio with this”. We haven’t let eachother down yet. We got the “Impala test”. When it sounds good in Rique’s Impala, then we run with it to radio.

A: You got that look on your face like you’re anxious.
Wale: Oh man, I’m ready. We’re looking at this fall for it to come out. But I’m going to keep everybody, you know, appeased in the meantime.

A: One of the largest critiques that you get from people is that you rep D.C. but you’re from PG County. What’s up with that? It’s like the area isn’t unified.
Wale\: [Laughs] If they got something to say, that’s great. I mean I lived in D.C. for ten years, I lived in PG County for thirteen. So I mean, you know, sue me. I’ve done more shows in D.C. than I have in PG. You know, a lot of my family is still in D.C., most of my team is from D.C. It’s just like when you go to Europe and you be like “Well I live in Largo. I live in Landover,” they’re gonna be like “huh?”. So you’re like “OK, D.C.”. You know what I’m sayin’? You know. D.C., like right there. D.C., the district, is made for working. PG is made for the people that work in D.C., you know what I’m saying? I work in D.C. You know, I was born there, so if I rep Maryland hard then the people that knew me when I was in D.C. would be like “why don’t you ever rep D.C.?”, so it’s a catch 22.

A: Do you think that’s bad though? There’s just this separation within the area.
Wale: It’s segregation. It’s like School Daze all over again. But I don’t care. It’s all good. Like I said, most of my team grew up in D.C. and we just migrated. Everybody migrates. 90% of us won’t live there in the next ten years anyway.

A: So let’s say somebody from out of town that had never been here before was coming to D.C. What’s the one place you would tell them to make sure they got to?
Wale: Hm. That’s a good question. Ben’s Chili Bowl. Or Georgetown to go shopping.

A: The Mixtape About Nothing. What’s it about, besides nothing?
Wale: At the end of the day, mixtapes really aren’t about anything anyway. They’re just songs you couldn’t clear and freestyles. So I flipped it around. The undertone of that message is that there’s a lot of issues I’m talking about, a lot of things I talk about.

A: So it’s more serious than your other tapes?
Wale: It is. And that’s the funny thing about it. The title is the Mixtape About Nothing, and, you know, it’s more about something. When you hear it, you’ll figure it out.

A: I heard you’re using Seinfeld as a theme for it. Will people who don’t know much about Seinfeld still be able to appreciate it?
Wale: They’re going to like it because of the lyrical excellence that I exercise on it.

A: When you say you’re talking about “something”, do you mean local issues, or…?
Wale: You’ll see. There’s a lot of things that I’m talking about, but you’ll get it. Immediately.

A: What’s the release date looking like on that project?
Wale: March. Mid-to-late March.

A: Any final thoughts?
Wale: Look out for the Mixtape About Nothing, keep supporting me, and you know…D.C., Maryland, and Virginia!

For more information about Wale, check out his myspace or elitaste.com. You can also catch him live on February 28th with Pete Rock, Torae, and Kid Cudi at the Highline Ballroom in New York City. Don't sleep. And I also just got word that the official video of W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E. will be premiering on MTV2 and MTVU. Don't want to wait that long? Check out this post on Elitaste for some preview clips of the video. I must say, it looks
hot

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer and not necessarily those of HipHopDX.com or Cheri Media Group.

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