TSS Presents Fifteen Minutes With Wale
"Fifteen Minutes With..." By David D. on June 20, 2009 at 11:56 amLadies and gents, Wale has arrived.
After a few years of putting in work on a regional & underground level, his music was thrust into the spotlight with the release of several critically acclaimed mixtapes. And now, the D.C. spitter is ready to take it mainstream with his Attention Deficit album around the corner.
Even though his world has grown larger & his options expanded, Wale is steadfast in his determination to stay an individual in a world of collaborations and co-signs. Early one morning recently, he got on the phone with the Crew’s David D. to talk about this dilemma, the reception to his single, “Chillin” and which character from The Wire he is most like.
Wale: Hello?
TSS: Hey, Wale?
Wale: Hey, how you doing man?
TSS: What are you up to right now?
Wale: I’m on my way to New York from D.C. right now. (Brief yawn) I got a couple of photo shoots to do and interviews.
TSS: I hear you yawning, they wearing you out man?
Wale: Yea, man, I didn’t get home till late. We had a crazy show in D.C. last night.
TSS: Yea, I ran into you here at the Jugrnaut in Chicago a few weeks ago. You were doing an in-store and you seemed pretty tired then too. Has the tour kind of taken its toll on you physically?
Wale: Absolutely. I got two shows tonight and one tomorrow in New York. It’s been a lot of tough work.
TSS: Have you looked at this like boot camp for the tour you’re supposed to be going on with Jay this summer?
Wale: I think this is actually the hardest part right now. It’s just a lot of early flying. (Simulates a yawn) Going to bed late. Not eating right. Y’know, just eating whatever you can get your hands on because everything is closed.
TSS: Now, your “Chillin” video recently came out then didn’t come out and as soon as it came out you went to Twitter to kind of explain it. Do you feel like you have to justify a single like that to your core audience?
Wale: Naw, I mean. Not necessarily explain it. I think it’s important just in case everyone is not hip to what’s going on. I just gotta get them a little hip to it because some people understand what’s going on and some people don’t. Sometimes you gotta throw a little bit out there to say “look” so people get it now.
TSS: And you have this “Family Affair” video also coming out at the same time. Is this to reach some sort of balance to reach that side that doesn’t get it?
Wale: Naw, that’s what I do. Mixtape About Nothing is kind of my niche. I’m the creative song-writing guy. Or the go-go party record guy. I want to do something different because the concept of this album is attention deficit. It’s left. Or not necessarily left. It’s just to bring you in my world.
I feel like that was the best way to do it, because most people send out an invitation to go party and get the most popular girl to send out invitations. When you hear the album, you’re gonna hear a lot of those records that are like “wow, that’s an amazing record.”
TSS: It looks like you have Slim Charles from The Wire in the video.
Wale: Yeaaaah. Well, I grew up listening to him and his band growing up. He’s in one of the biggest bands (Backyard Band) in D.C. history. So, I grew up watching him and we became cool like three years ago. It was kind of a no-brainer when I got the record. I saw the treatment and I knew who I wanted to play that role.
TSS: How closely did you follow The Wire?
Wale: Oh, I’ve seen every episode.
TSS: Which character from the show is Wale?
Wale: Probably Michael. The new guy. The leader, still. You got all the Marlo’s and the Slim Charles’ and the Omar’s and he does his own thing. He’s not really influenced by that. And you can tell he’s about to take over and do his own thing. So I’d probably compare myself to him.
TSS: Now, at the end it seemed like the game kind of changed him though. Like it seemed like he was going off the deep end. What are you doing to make sure you’re not running up on people with a double barrel-
Wale: What do you think is going off the deep end?
TSS: Well what do you think is going off the deep end? I mean Michael almost lost his way.
Wale: I don’t know if he lost his way, though. He took the route that he though he deemed necessary. I think I’m doing the same thing. I’m trying my best to connect with the people. I’m trying my best. I’m trying to make it work anyway that I can. I mean, it’s a struggle. It’s an inner struggle. And it’s an outer struggle. And I’m trying to do it the best I can. Like Michael was, you have a lot of people saying “do that” and “do this.” “I want you to work with me” and all that. And he kind of did his own thing towards the end.
TSS: Yea, you’ve kind of embraced the loner personality, but you have to collaborate in Hip-Hop.
Wale: Yea, obviously I collaborate a lot. But as far as major co-signs, those are my people. The Bun B’s, the Jay’s. From Kanye to Pharrell, everyone that’s co-signed those are my people but I don’t really have any guy that’s pulling my coat.
I embrace it because there isn’t anything given but my buzz and my fanbase is because I have a body of work they can appreciate. It’s not because of a song or a major co-sign. Not me being signed to this or that person. It’s because of the work I’ve been putting in for four years.
TSS: I saw a quote from this track “Triumph” from the album where you say “I reached out to Kanye for help/ but us niggas gotta do it for ourselves.” What, if anything, happened with there?
Wale: It’s more of like a broad statement. I’ve known Kanye for like three years now. It’s like you listen to somebody, you enjoy their records and the music they produce. You think that once you get signed it’s as simple as calling their A&R or their label and getting it in. But it’s not that easy. There’s a lot of things that have happened that have shown me it’s not that easy. That’s basically what I’m trying to say; it’s not easy to get that collaboration.
TSS: Were you always this kind of loner, though? Even growing up?
Wale: Yeah, man. I got kicked off the football team when I was in school for doing my own thing.
TSS: (Laughs) What did you do?
Wale: Stubborn. I was just in tune with my own thing. I wasn’t in to following the crowd for better or for worse.
TSS: Are you still kind of like that? Are you still stubborn when it comes to working with people in the studio?
Wale: Naw, not really. I work well with 90 percent of the people I collab with. It’s always going to be creative differences.
TSS: With this Back To The Feature mixtape, what was it like working with all those personalities? You’ve got many good artists making appearances on there.
Wale: I love building from the ground up, unless schedules are just completely retarded and you just have to get it.
TSS: Off the top of your head, who had the craziest guest verse on that tape? Who just blew you away with a crazy sixteen?
Wale: K’Naan. Me and K’Naan’s record is crazy. Me and Joe Budden were really competitive with it. Bun B. We were real competitive. Me, J. Cole and Curren$y got a joint on there. We were real competitive.
TSS: What’s that like? How does that competition work out?
Wale: Sometimes we just give each other a line (Laughs). The people will know but we just go at it. Not personally going at it, but it’s like “nigga look, my line is hotter than yours.”
TSS: Aight, man. I know you got a shoot coming up. Anything else you wanna say before you go?
Wale: Naw, man, that’s pretty much everything. Thanks for the time you took to interview me.
TSS: Thanks a lot, man.
Wale: Peace, brotha.
Watch — Wale - “Family Affair” Video | Wale Feat. Lady Gaga - “Chillin’” Video
Listen — LRG Presents Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature Mixtape
Posted in "Fifteen Minutes With...", ARTIST INTERVIEWS, GENERAL — Tags: "FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH...", 9th Wonder, Attention Deficit, Back To The Feature, Lady GaGa, Roc Nation, Wale
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26 Comments
Great interview. I appreciate every one of these you do. He def set the bar high for his album imo. These mixtapes he puts out smash everything even if they are late (free is free though). lol
As I listen to this mixtape, I have to say I’m glad Wale keeps making my predictions manifest.
I’ve listened to it 3 times since last night. Its good ish. After this weekend I’m putting it down for a couple of weeks to see if it still sounds fresh. I’m thinking it will.
Waiting on the album. DVM stand up!
I’ll check the interview in a few moments, however, Gotty, check what I copped whilst in town today.
I think you will like this fitted, it goes really well with The Smoking Section tee, you know the one with the purple logo finish.
The material on the fitted is polyester, however, the sheen on the surface almost has a light purple glow to it, probably because there is shades of purple peppered around the fitted. (The style is New Era Lava NY Blk/Multi)
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00071.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00090.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00087.jpg
Plus these white Nike’s, basic clean design, however, I liked the coloured sploges peppered on the back of them:-
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00080.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00082.jpg
Plus I was really happy with finding the following tee, real cheap too. Nice design and colour concept me thinks, tee is courtesy of Team Eco:-
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00077.jpg
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n280/narmip/DSC00078.jpg
Maxwell BLACKsummer’s night, please…
i dont understand the hype :(
i’m from dc, so i want somebody 2 get shine but..
i listened to the mixtape and it was just raps and beats (which i had heard a bunch of before, so much for the 9th wonder surprise)
little brother=dope beats and rhymes
wale=ok beats and rhymes
no hate, just a question.
who is the new class? j.cole, asher roth, wale, drake, mickey factz, nipsey hussle?
2 me drake is the only listenable one because he can sing as well, although he raps like weezy sometimes
i dunno man. i’d rather bump lupe, clipse, jeezy, little brother. maybe i’m ol skoool cuz i won’t give a cookie to an artist just because they can rap and they don’t suck
@shiningdown, you heard Access Immortal?
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=G1H3TRHR
I think Wale is definitely amongst the the current cream of the crop, I don’t believe in the new class. I’ve got my own Wildcard Six, and Wale is amongst the selected six.
I’m not saying that everything he touche is gold, however, dude has got enough talent to make me believe that he is a cut above average.
Wale’s tape is serious. I was amazed at the fct he was able to grow as an artist between tapes. He was able to adapt to every track on the tape and doesn’t really make a misstep. 9th im sure helps that out but wale’s flow isn’t mainstream but somehow he has that ability to crossover with talent.
me = dickrider (no homo)
At first I was kinda pissed about all the features then I got the name and it was the theme of the tape.
Tape = fire.
Good interview D-Dub
I like where Wale took that Wire/Michael analogy.
@shiningdown
2 me drake is the only listenable one because he can sing as well
*************************************************************************************
“We aint trying to sing to these broads… We tryin’ to get the broads to understand that niggas be rappin’”
Drake’s cool. I understand the hype. He IS talented, but it ain’t always about the radio and making the chicks happy on the chorus.
Wale can definitely rhyme.
The tape is cool, but I still can’t see Wale being as big in the “real world” as he is on the internet. I hope he proves me wrong, but I seriously doubt it. There’s nothing about dude that screams “mainstream appeal”.
To me, growth is the key. He’s consistently improved w/each outing.
Amp - I heard “Chillin” on three diff stations last week & they weren’t all urban. The appeal is there or will develop. He aint a fly light skin nig like Drake, but he’s complex enough for the heads to appreciate but not too far gone for the mainstream. Plus he’s got an ear for beats that tops most artists, new or old.
remember when ludacris first came out?? kanye?? lupe?
i just don’t get that anymore.
@gotty- did u really like the beat for chillin? hes gonna have to drop somethin hotter than that 2 gain me as a fan
Ok, listened to the mix, it’s quite good actually, nowt ground breaking. I mean dude ain’t the next KRS One, Ghostface or Rakim.
However, considering the lack of creativy amongst the current slew of johnny come lately’s, Wale is definitely nice with his, so kudos given.
He aint a fly light skin nig like Drake, but he’s complex enough for the heads to appreciate but not too far gone for the mainstream.
================================
I think the talent is there, but I’ve yet to hear a Wale song that I can see blowing up like that. He’s a dope artist but I still think there’s been alotta hype and I’m not sure the output warrants it.
Funny thing is I don’t see that much “hype” w/him.
As for “Chillin” it was basura upon first listen. But when you listen to it (specifically those lines before & after the Chris Mullin reference), he’s doing some things lyrically. To me, it was a Jay move - drop something that the radio can pick up & repeat (hence Lady Gaga & the chorus).
The tape tho…like he said, he’s getting all the “features” out the way so when you cop the album, it’s him by himself.
I will say it - I was not feeling (pause) Wale beyond “Nike Boots” (which was… how long ago?)…
BUT…
Saw him perform “Chillin’” live and my jaw dropped.
Amazing performance.
What is crazy presently is that is what normally captures my attention with a new artist… a hot live performance.
(Which is the new way to go in our stubborn music industry ways currently. This is no longer the old school where you can service the record to radio and that is enough)
So he is tired, yeah… but if he can garner new fans through it… it is all worth it (IMO).
That Um Ricka joint IS crazy. Shout out to all the immigrants.
@ shining down….i agree w/ 100% of what u said bro. u summed it up nicely…
@TRA
That’s one thing I like about Wale, dude can rock a show. A lot of artists can’t interact with the fans and keep their attention. Wale can do it.
Amen, that lil nig can rock a show. If he can get his endurance up (NH) he’ll really be good lol.
As I listen to this mixtape, I have to say I’m glad Wale keeps making my predictions manifest
Yup… His last 2 tapes are great. I hope he can come through just as strong on his album.
dope interview, dope tape!