ShockHound

Interview by Joshua Glazer

Two years ago, a then-unknown rapper named Wale appeared on the MTV Video Music Awards, rapping his version of Justice’s “D.A.N.C.E.” while Mark Ronson's lead house band played out to a commercial. The next day, the MC drove out to LA from Vegas, where we met for the first time. He had just dropped a much loved mixtape for hipster clothing line 10.Deep, and it seemed like stardom was just moments away for the DC-based rapper.
    Two years later, Wale is finally ready to release his debut album, Attention Deficit. And if you're wondering where Wale’s been the during past 24 months, the answer is in the music. The record's first single, “Chillin," hit the airwaves over the summer, thanks in no small part to a hook from Lady GaGa. The rest of the album buzzes with stellar production by hitmakers (Neptunes, Cool & Dre, Ronson), newcomers (Syience, the Sleepwalkers) and one indie rock icon (David Sitek of TV on the Radio).
    But it’s the MC’s easy-yet-confident style that earns the prize. Not as boastful as Jay-Z, artistically tortured as Kanye West, or alien as Lil’ Wayne, Wale is the most gimmick-free rapper around. He’s even mellow in interviews; at least he was when ShockHound caught him on tour while prepping for his long-awaited album release.

SHOCKHOUND: What are you doing to get ready for the release of Attention Deficit?

WALE: I can't even tell you my schedule. It doesn't look like a human being. It goes up and down, but it's grind time. I've been signing autographs all morning.

SHOCKHOUND: A lot of time has passed since you first came to people’s attention outside of DC.

WALE: I've been on a steady grind. I wouldn't say I’ve fully connected with the mainstream. It's been slow and steady. It hasn't been way over the top, but it’s something that's going to be relevant for a long time. I feel like every fan I get is a fan forever. I think I'm one of the first artists where nothing is normal. It's not drop a big single, let it sit two months, drop the album — it's different. We're touring, we're building a brand, building something that's going to be around for sometime. So I was never impatient. I never wanted to rush.

SHOCKHOUND: You’re the first rapper to really come big out of DC. Did it take this new model of building a fanbase on the Internet to get heard in DC?

WALE: That's a difficult question. You know, Juvenile came out of New Orleans without the Internet. He had the people. I think that's my situation. It just caught. I was selling out shows. Internet might have hurt me because it associated me with people who maybe didn't have the same buzz locally — just had an internet buzz. I had both. I had the hottest record in the streets in DC, and I was selling out clubs in a city where people aren't Internet savvy.

SHOCKHOUND: Mark Ronson produced two tracks on the record, “90210” and “Mirrors,” but has an Executive Producer credit. What does that entail?

WALE: He’s overseeing everything. He’ll say we should add horns, or different keys, or have me rap another verse. It was repetition. We have to do things over and over with Mark. More than any other producer I've worked with. He's definitely a perfectionist. He's one of the most OCD people I've ever been in the studio with. And it shows in his great music.

 

SHOCKHOUND: You sort of take Kanye to task on “Triumph,” saying you asked for help but didn’t get it. What’s that story?

WALE: I met Kanye, and he said “I got you on the album.” This was before I signed the deal. When I asked him again, he was like, “I'm busy.” And I understood it, but at the same time I was a little bit like — you used to say that when you were coming up no one was respecting your grind. And I feel like, dang. But I don't wait for handouts. If I waited for handouts I'd still be in DC passing out CDs. I was like, You’re gonna help out all these other dudes? Go ahead, you don't need to help out me. Cool, I get it.

SHOCKHOUND: But still, you performed Kanye’s “Touch the Sky” at the Def Jam Hip-Hop Honors show.
 
WALE: People don't understand, but Kanye has a lot of platinum records in a time when that’s really hard to do. You have to acknowledge him for what he's done. I think I found out I was going to do Kanye maybe a few hours before the show. I really had to put that together quick.

SHOCKHOUND: So many rappers seem to have “patrons,” but you don’t really have that. You've worked with great people, but…

WALE: I'm glad you noticed that. I don't think the public realizes how much of success is usually co-signing and getting help, but my brand is really just me and UCB, winning over one person at a time.  

SHOCKHOUND: How would you best describe Attention Deficit?

WALE: I wanted it to be schizophrenic. I want it to be all over the place. I didn't want songs to blend. “It's attention deficit.” Extreme joy. Extreme pain. Extreme insecurity. It's just a day in the life, or a year in the life, or 25 years in the life.

SHOCKHOUND: We've just passed the one-year anniversary of Obama’s election. Has that changed anything in your hometown?

WALE: Obama's election did as much for DC as it did for Chicago or San Francisco. There's no direct influence between the suits and the offices and the streets — the urban communities. That's one thing crazy about DC. We often forget that Obama is 10 miles away.

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