Q&A: Wale
Most unsigned rappers haven’t done remixes with Lily Allen, toured with Mark Ronson, or hung out with Lindsay Lohan. Then again, Wale (government name Olubowale Victor Akintimehin) wasn't just any another unsigned rapper. The D.C. native also graced the cover of URB magazine, had every blog that matters (and some that don’t) singing his praises, and received glowing endorsements from Jay-Z, Black Thought and Just Blaze. Above all else, he breathed fresh air into a genre that many have declared to be suffocating creatively. Need proof? Look no further than “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.,” where he spits over Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” Thanks to all this, Wale is no longer unsigned hype. First, he signed to Mark Ronson's Allido Records, and in March, he signed to Interscope. His Seinfeld-inspired The Mixtape About Nothing is due out soon, and his debut album is slated for a late 2008 release. Rhapsody got a hold of a very busy Wale. Here, he talks about less-than-supportive D.C. radio stations, hanging out with Jay-Z, and working with The Roots.
Rhapsody: Coming into the game, how hard was it to get D.C. radio to play your records?
Wale: Radio is fickle. I don’t get the support that I should. I got my record deal not from BDS spins. I got my record deal from generating a buzz outside of D.C. Every label said, "Well, you don’t get that many spins even in your market." I’d be back with the [program directors] at the stations asking them, "Why am I not getting spins if I’m selling out shows?" ... It breaks my heart because it’s like I’m doing what I can do for our area, but it’s almost like listening to a Top 40 station sometimes. I’ve never had a record added on rotation. [“Nike Boots”] never got added. [It was] on a mixshow, maybe four times a day. One of the PDs said I should’ve made a snap record. It’s an integrity thing and that sh*t’s not my style. It’s just the way of the world. If “Roc Boys” was anyone else’s record other than Jay-Z's, it wouldn’t have been as big as it was. And that’s probably my favorite song of last year. But if it was my first single from my first album, it wouldn’t have been able to hold up with all them T-Pain or T-Pain-assisted records because that’s what’s hot. The musicality of “Roc Boys” is not what’s poppin’ right now, but it’s Jay-Z, the greatest rapper of all time. People give Jay-Z that open ear. They won’t give no one like me or Skyzoo or Joell Ortiz or Joe Budden or Papoose the open ear. We have to conform.
Records like “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.” don’t conform?
I’m at the cusp where commercial meets underground. If a Jay-Z came out now, and he was 23 years old, he wouldn’t be Jay-Z. As great as he was, it’s just a whole other game right now. It took me going on tour and getting the tastemakers like URB magazine and FADER ... to get the ball rolling. It took Jay-Z telling everybody, "This guy is dope." It took people like Bun B, [Allido Records Co-Owner] Rich Kleiman and Mark Ronson to be like, "This is the next guy." It was a snowball effect. The percentage of people who are ahead of the curve in this entertainment business is less than 1 percent. Everybody is singing [Santogold’s] praises right now. There’s people who believed in Santogold and knew about her before even I did, and that was a year ago. Getting a record deal is almost like an artificial validation. Ain’t nothing really changed except I can go to Just Blaze and say we have a budget now. If Mark and them never picked me up, somebody else would’ve picked me up by now. When [Jay-Z] was like, "Your music is good," I felt like I was knighted then.
Initially, Mark Ronson was going to produce your entire debut. What caused the shift in terms of you working with different producers?
I’m not the type of person to sit around and wait. Mark is just extremely busy now. He just won three Grammys. It’s been a minute since I even talked to Mark. I’m sure he’s gonna come in and do some stuff on the record, but I’m not gonna slow him down. The record might have four joints from DJ Premier and one from Mark. But Mark is still gonna be overseeing everything as it’s progressing. But I’m not gonna wait for [Kanye’s] Glow in the Dark tour to end. I know Kanye is more rapper than producer now. So it might make more sense for me to do a song with him rapping rather than trying to get him to make beats when that’s not where his heart’s at right now. As far as Just Blaze goes, we’ve already knocked some stuff out, but he’s doing a Nat King Cole project. I’m getting in the studio with Pharrell in two weeks. I’m meeting with Primo.
You moved to New York recently. What prompted that move?
Just working. Get some food, write, listen to music, play a little video games, watch The Wire, repeat and studio.
What part are you living in?
Soho. That’s my habitat. [Laughs.] Shopping all day. Louis [Vuitton] is my new vice. I didn’t spend none of my advance, luckily. I just been spending a little show money. I spent about $9000. [The dopest sh*t I got is] these jeans I have on now. I wear them every single day. They’re so comfortable and look good with every single pair of sneakers I got.
It was interesting that, initially, when your father would hear your songs on the radio, you’d deny it was you. How come?
It’s just weird talking to my parents about music. Nigerian culture ain’t really like that to be like, "Yo, so I’m a rapper now." Let them find out organically. I’m ashamed to be a rapper actually. It’s corny. It’s such a connotation that goes with it. He’s unintelligent, uneducated, stupid, shallow and misogynistic. It’s like shameful to be a rapper now.
Have your parents grasped the concept that you’re famous?
I’m not famous. I don’t really think I’ve done much. When I told my mother I got a record deal, I said, “Mom, my plane’s about to take off, but I just wanted to tell you I signed my record deal.” She’s like, “Oh, that’s nice. Where did you put the remote before you left?” She always asks me when I’m going back to school. So that kind of shows you that she doesn’t really get it.
Being around Mark Ronson exposed you to a lot of celebrities. Is there anyone you felt star-struck around?
Only person I’ve ever been like that around was Jay. I’ve had dinner with him a couple times. I just like it. I get weird. I just listen and watch. I watch how other people talk to him. It’s admiration ‘cause that’s the one person I’ve consistently always admired. Nas as well. In the same week, I got drunk with Nas and Jay-Z. Nas was handing me Patron and I was with Jay at him and Lebron’s Grammy dinner. That night, when I was going back to my hotel, I was like, "Jay-Z and Nas." That’s the one time I felt like, wow, I’m a lucky dude.
What’s dinner convo like when you’re with Jay-Z?
One time, we was at Cipriani’s. I was like, "Yo, Jay, if I bring my girl here, what do I order?" He was like, "You gotta order sea bass." Or we talk about sports a lot. He’s a big Cowboys fan and obviously I’m a Redskins fan. They always beat us. One time at Rich’s birthday, him and Beyoncé came through. So I acted like I ain’t seen him ‘cause I didn’t wanna hear no sh*t. He came and stood next to me and I looked at him. He was like, "So you not gonna say nothing?" [Laughs.] I was like, "What’s up?" He said, "Romo." And then he just walked away. I don’t even like really talking to him because I don’t wanna feel like I’m interviewing him. But I did ask him what was his favorite [song] off American Gangster. He said “No Hook.” I always wanted to see how he felt about his own music.
You and the Cool Kids generated huge buzzes on the Internet while Lil Wayne was named the hottest rapper by MTV without even putting an album out. How important do you feel record sales are?
I don’t really know that much about the Cool Kids. It’s potential. But potential is another word for “Ain’t Done Sh*t.” So it’s “Show and Prove” time for myself, Cool Kids and everyone else that has an “Internet buzz.” I don’t really know what an “Internet buzz” is. It’s the new way to give people your music without going in the streets and passing out CDs.
The media has categorized acts like you, Kid Sister and Cool Kids as hipster rap. Commercially, do you see potential in hipster rap?
Where I’m from, don’t nobody call me a hipster. I don’t know what a hipster is. If you [compare] Cool Kids and Wale, we don’t dress or talk nothing alike. ... It’s something totally different. They put us in a box. But what does that entail? I’m just a rapper that’s trying to represent Washington, D.C. If I happen to have over 400 pairs of sneakers, does that make me hipster? Is Clark Kent a hipster? He got a gazillion pairs of sneakers. I wear Louis Vuitton jeans. Does that make me a hipster? I’m sure Jay-Z and Nas got some Louis Vuitton jeans. I think if certain rappers would’ve heard the Justice instrumental without the words they would’ve gone crazy.
Chuck Inglish of the Cool Kids made an interesting statement that we’re past the point of selling music.
He’s settling. The brand is bigger than the actual music now, though. It’s more of a brand game than song game. “Pop, Lock & Drop It” was a big record. Huey sold 20 something thousand the first week ‘cause didn’t nobody knows who he was. That’s another reason people are doing 360 deals. They’re not signing artists for songs anymore. Who can be the next 50 Cent? 50 Cent might not be the greatest lyricist or greatest songwriter anymore. He was for a four-year span. ... But, 50 Cent has video games and is in movies with A-list actors.
Do you care if you sell a million records?
Record sales do matter to me. How many people care enough to get up and buy my record? It’s not the most important thing, but it does matter. ‘Cause at the end of the day, that and the Grammys is the respect that you want. A lot of fans don’t realize how important record sales is to people. I think Bobby Valentino and Shawnna just got dropped from Disturbing Tha Peace. If more people cared enough, ‘cause I know they got a lot of fans, they’d probably still have a deal.
What was recording with the Roots for “Rising Up” like?
It was very, very, very long because we recorded a lot of takes. They’re perfectionists. I aced the verse flawlessly the first three times. But they still wanted to hear different projections. We probably did it like 28 times. They told me when Erykah Badu did “You Got Me,” it was way more takes. It was enough to let me know that I might have been rushing in some [of my] sessions.
Why's Jay-Z a cowboy fan? Because of Beyonce??! Lame.
Posted by: brandonsoderberg | 15 May 2008 at 01:09 AM