It has been a year and a half since Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit, was released on Interscope, and now that he's in a new label situation, the D.C. rapper is ready to release two new albums this year.

According to MTV, Wale has recorded enough material to release two albums in 2011, and two albums in 2012.

"It's done. I mean, I'm just making songs," Wale told MTV News.

"I told [Maybach distributor] Warner Bros. I'm not opposed to droppin' two albums in 2011 or two in 2012. If they allow me to and they ready for it, I'll do it."

Wale's new album will be released on Rick Ross' imprint Maybach Music, after signing with the Miami rapper's label earlier this year.

MTV News also confirmed through Rick Ross that after the release of MMG's Self Made compilation album, Wale will be the next artist on the label to release an album.

"It's a lot of drive, it's a lot of hunger, it's a lot of the things that I wasn't good at explaining the first time around," said Wale. "The messages are getting' across a lot cleaner, so I'm very, very proud of the music I've been putting out for this new project."

With the mixed reviews and low album sales of his debut album, it'll be interesting to see if changing labels will lead to a more successful sophomore release for Mr. Folarin.

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With the release of his debut album Attention Deficit, he garnered both praise and hardship with crippling first week sales due to under shipment alongside a movement of fans searching relentlessly for the finished project.

Moving past that, there was a rumored "friendship" with Beyonce's sister Solange, an ongoing relationship column and a onslaught of television and radio appearances that broke this once locally known artist into a national rap staple.

[Check out the rest of our interview with Wale after the jump]

Wale's a busy man, so in between continuing his "No Days Off" campaign---a daily effort to remain on the grind, D.C.'s Diplomat took time out  to tell HipHopWired about his potential next video, his reaction to critics who question where he's really from and offered a little insight on his views of the District.

HipHopWired: First of all, congratulations on the success of Attention Deficit. Everything panned out even though it was shaky at first, but coming out of the gate so strong with your debut album what are your plans to top that?

Wale: Well, I'm not really trying to top that joint right now, because there's such a small amount of people that have got the album that I'm just trying to create more awareness about it because I'm very passionate about it.

HipHopWired: So what are you doing to raise more awareness about it?

Wale: Just shooting videos and doing my own thing by myself.

HipHopWired: Going back and looking at your mixtapes , like “100 Miles and Runnin'”, “Paint a Picture” and “Mixtape About Nothing”, your real fans would say you stayed true to your artistic integrity, but then you have people on the other side who would kind of say that you are selling about by working with Lady Gaga and Jasmine Sullivan, so what do you have to say to people who say that?

Wale: Well when I worked with Lady Gaga she was nowhere near as big as she is now, so it was actually one of those things where it wasn't “selling out” at that point because she was really new.  She was a new chick with so much energy and so much spunk and I wanted to convey that in the record.  As far as Jasmine Sullivan goes, her album is soul, she makes soul music and that's what I do.  That's my whole big influence, music that touches your soul, either it's going to be a tearjerker or it's something that makes your day better, just soul music.  When they say selling out, that's the second time I've ever heard that, but when they say that I think it's just something people like to say.  If you're getting exposure, that's just more people trying to Fawk with your music.

HipHopWired: Moving past the people  that you say are hating by saying you're selling out, what about the other people that are also saying “Wale's not really from D.C., why isn't he repping Maryland?”  What do you say to people who say that?

Wale: That's just real petty.  I was born in Washington D.C. and I live in Maryland now, it's as simple as that.  I think sometimes people are just trying to find anything they can say to say.  I've done everything but get the key to this city.  I've performed at the Red Skins game, I've done countless amounts of charity work, I'm very, very, very influential in the community and with all the sports teams being D.C. based I live 5 minutes away from there now.  I don't think we work so hard to stay in the same place, you know?

HipHopWired: Let's talk more about D.C., you kind of introduced the world to Fat Trel and Black Cobain, what is it about the two of them that really caught your attention and made you want to help bring them out?

Wale: I'm just somebody who's passionate about music.  I just feel like I didn't necessarily do the numbers that I wanted to do and I haven't got to where I want to get with my career, but I think it's still time that I started helping others get to where they want to go with their careers, it's really important to me.  I think Black has something about him that that's kind of like the boy next-door sort of thing.  He thinks a lot, breaks bread with dudes, very humble and I just appreciate what he brings to the table.

HipHopWired: Now are you're planning on doing a lot more of the live U-Streams and letting your fans come and watch you guys actually record the music and then release it later on that day?

Wale: Mmm hmm, it's just part of my whole campaign, my whole no days off campaign.

HipHopWired: You brought in a lot of praise for your articles that you did for Honey on relationships. Everyone loved them but are you looking at maybe a book or maybe just like a blog for whenever you get inspired?

Wale: Like I said, it's just no days off, it could be anything.  Everything I do every day is dedicated to being great. I just make sure everything I do is part of my dedication to progress who I am as a man.

HipHopWired: In the actual articles you defined “that thing.” You had the whole “this is the year of that that thing” idea going on and you described it as “an anomaly, it's unexplainable.” Is it still unexplainable to you or did you figure it out now?  Are you still riding around in the Northface and the ball shorts?

Wale: Not anymore, I'm feeling pursuit.  I still have the pessimistic mask on, but I'm feeling pursuit.

HipHopWired: Let's talk about “Diary”, you're working on the video and this is the first time that you wrote the treatment for one of your videos.  Are you still scheduled to drop that, I heard you're dropping that soon?

Wale: It depends on the avenue and the media that it gets through, I'm going to play it for a couple of networks and see what they say, but I think the people will get it a lot sooner than later.

HipHopWired: Did all the negative backlash you got from “Pretty Girls” affect the way you went about this video at all or did you just move past that?

Wale: I believe that God puts things in front of you to shake your future decisions.  My decision is that I'm going to always be hands on for my videos from now on.  I have to. Nobody can convey my thoughts better than me.  I'm not going to say I was lazy for it, I just feel like a rapper should rap and a director should direct, but now I feel like a rapper should rap, he should direct, write, counsel, he should do whatever. He should be more than just a rapper.

HipHopWired: Do you already know what the next single is going to be?  Are we going to get “Shades” or “90210”?

Wale: I'm not really sure right now, that's something I will have to talk to management about, it might be “Beautiful Bliss”.

HipHopWired: Let's talk about D.C. some more and about the politics that are going on right now.  You're known for having strong opinions, can you give me your opinion on what you think about the healthcare bill finally getting passed.  What about all these black politicians that are getting targeted and getting pictures of nooses with racial slurs being thrown around?

Wale: I kind of stay away from the politics side because I feel like if I get involved in it that I'm going to go too hard.  I'd rather mess around and have my vision 20/20 than turn into a renegade.

HipHopWired: Can you say anything?  Are you excited about the healthcare bill at least?

Wale: I'm definitely excited about it, but I'm not as privied to that political world as a lot of other people because I'm too passionate about things. Like if I'm interested into a sporting event I could get into blows just because I'm real passionate about what I'm into.

HipHopWired: With your passion for sports, are you looking to do more on ESPN?

Wale: Absolutely, yeah.

HipopWired: How do you feel about D.C.'s fight for statehood?  Do you think that would help the district economically?

Wale: This is one of those things I have to be politically correct with.  I don't think so and I think there still will be a lot more issues if it does become a state.  I think maybe even more, they always keep D.C. with issues.

HipHopWired: On your mixtapes you always talked about bringing D.C. a Grammy, in your opinion has that Grammy winning song been written or are you still working on it and it's still coming up for you?

Wale: I feel like I have a lot of Grammy winning records on my album.  The timing was an issue and stuff but I believe that I'll be recognized soon enough.

HipHopWired: Before I let you go, there was this whole rumored relationship with Solange and then we kind of just never heard any more about that.  Are you guys still cool or what happened with that?

Wale: That's my homegirl, we're friends.

HipHopWired: And that's it?

Wale: Yeah.

Wale "Pretty Girls Remix" feat. Chris Brown and Fabolous

]]> http://hiphopwired.com/2010/04/22/hhwired-exclusive-d-c-s-diplomat-a-conversation-with-wale/feed/ 2 http://hiphopwired.com/2010/02/09/wale-drops-visuals-for-%e2%80%9cpretty-girls%e2%80%9d-x-%e2%80%9cmy-sweetie%e2%80%9d/ http://hiphopwired.com/2010/02/09/wale-drops-visuals-for-%e2%80%9cpretty-girls%e2%80%9d-x-%e2%80%9cmy-sweetie%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:31:13 +0000 Justin T. Stewart justinstewart http://hiphopwired.com/?p=27285 Although the album was released back in November, rapper Wale is still making his rounds with Attention Deficit, dropping the music video for his second official single “Pretty Girls”.

Clearly, Gucci Mane wasn't going to be able to make it due to his particular situation, a.k.a. prison, but the abundance of women might be able to pick up the slack for his absence.

Apparently, there was some backlash for the video with critics saying there was a lack of dark skinned women in the video so Wale also dropped “My Sweetie” which was a bonus track off of the album.

It's good to see an artist trying to make sure that he can gain the mass appeal, but what is really going on with the light skinned preference in these videos?  Who's really picking these girls?

The latest artist to rally for relief is none other than Wale who's headlining the “DMV Helps Haiti Concert.”

Wale will take the stage Monday January 18th at D.C.'s 9:30 Club to raise much needed financial support for the country in peril.

Not acting alone he'll be supported by other artists from the DMV including D.C. Don Juan, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade, XO, Kingpen Slim, K-Beta, Que (formerly of Day26) – and special surprise guests will take the stage as well.

The concert will also be hosted by by Chris Cole of BET's College Hill South Beach.

Tickets for the “DMV Helps Haiti” concert are $20 and available at the 9:30 Club box office and at http://www.930.com.

While Wale continues to provide help for the people of Haiti, he's also preparing to release the video for his latest single “Pretty Girls".

Shooting for the video recently wrapped and the finished product is due to drop in the forthcoming weeks.

Emotions have become obsolete and almost devoid for some of the youth as many young Black men are unwilling to wear their emotions on a sleeve and choose to bury themselves in emotion instead of using necessary outlets to let them out.

Hip Hop music now isn't heavily stressed on emotion and has shifted to a point where one would think that everybody is having a grand time, even with the crisis' plaguing society.

With the release of Attention Deficit, Wale almost makes it a mission to bring the troubles of the world, or at least his world, out into the open for all to see.  Whether it be happiness or sadness, triumph or tragedy, he attempts to cover it all.

While speaking with Associated Press, the rapper elaborated on the premise of his first outing on a major release and how it is infused with emotion. 

“My album is 100% about emotion; about feeling imperfect, about feeling like the world is on your shoulders, about feeling good about yourself, feeling great or feeling like the underdog.  It's all those emotions.”

Notable tracks such as “Shades” and “Diary” relate to dealing with one's imperfections and becoming comfortable with their own identity in a world where differences are penned as being something wrong.

“Triumph” and “Beautiful Bliss”, however, show the other side of the fence and the fact that there is always light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how deep and dark it may be.

The D.C. representative also spoke on the necessity of women on his album and the fact that their ability to deal with such an array of emotions only made them a necessity when it came to placing singers as features for his debut.

“My songs are about concentrated emotions.  What that means is basically this song is all about being happy, that's it.  This song is about things being bad, but not that bad.  This song is all about winning, triumphing.  I think women get the emotion across with less effort than men do because their more emotional creatures.” 

As the world continues to turn and the bottom is so much closer to the top nowadays, some African American males must come to grips with the fact that everything isn't hardcore.  Playing a particular position in order to appease your peers is only detrimental to yourself.  There's never anything wrong with expression, life is an everyday problem.

His last mainstream appearance was at the 2009 MTV VMA's when he brought along go-go band UCB to be the ‘house band' for the occasion. Now he's preparing to bring his music to the masses via a football game.

The avid Deadskins….pardon me, Redskins fan has been tapped to perform at halftime when the struggling team takes on the Dallas Cowboys. The hometown hero will perform his hit “Chillin” sans Lady Gaga followed by his latest single “Pretty Girls” coincidentally sans Gucci Mane.

The man who was also named one of GQ's 'Men of The Year' confirmed his upcoming performance via Twitter saying,

“I'm performin @ halftime at the redskins vs cowboys game on the 27th! live on the 50 yd line FedEx! lets go #dmv.”

Catch Wale at halftime December 27 when the Redskins fight for their lives against the cowboys at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.

Go Deadskins!

“I had to fight to get that on the album because I don't think a lot of people at the label understood it.”

No person can imagine the magnitude of emotion an artist will endure when he/she finds out that his/her album has been leaked.  In the case of D.C. rapper Wale, part of the new class, it is a shock to the system to know that he will already have a disadvantage with his debut Attention Deficit.

Leaks hit the net for the upcoming project which is scheduled for release on November 10.

For those that already have the album and those that are still waiting to hear it, the rapper that made “Chillin” has minimal presence in the album as the body of work shows him to be more than a pop song.

One song in particular, titled “Shades," shows Wale speaking on his childhood and dealing with different complexions of the African American race and having a negative perception towards those with lighter skin.

Speaking with Peace Magazine, the rapper opened up on the meaning behind the track and how it was actually a song about self and dealing with his own insecurities.

“'Shades' isn't necessarily about my resentfulness, at one point I thought I was resenting them, but it was a lack of confidence in myself that led me to behave the way I did at that time in my life.”

Outside of the song, Wale added there are different shades within the industry which causes differences due to a lack of comprehension with creativity and how he had to miss out on other powerful songs which were meant for the album.

“There's not a lot of ethnicity in the industry, as far as the higher ups go, and those guys are great at marketing and doing what they do, but a lot of times, records like “Ice & Rain," “Family Affair," these are all records that I wanted to get on the album, but I couldn't.  “Shades was one where it had to and I was going to refuse to do anything if it didn't come out.”

The industry has been in disarray for quite some time where sales outweigh substance and feeling.  The powers that be are not looking for an individual; instead they want clones which he is unwilling to be from this point forward.

“I understand the game; you have to put a record out like that to wake up the people that don't really care about self in music.  Now, it's on now.  Y'all know what I want to make now so be prepared.  I'm not here to be a pop act.  “Chillin” is a pop song and I'm not here to be a pop act.  I enjoyed what Gaga brings to the table and I wanted to make something that could be a lot of fun, but I don't think I'll be going back down that road ever.”

Even with such a misstep before the gun blows to start the race, sales may be hurt, but the message is still there for everyone to hear.  With a week before the official release, Wale won't allow the shades of music to cover his voice.

“Allow me to introduce me, my name's Wale don't say Wally…”

These are the words of Allido/Interscope artist, Wale. He's straight out of the “area” comprised of D.C., Maryland and Virginia and if you've been eager to be introduced to the lyrical giant, you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. Wale's Attention Deficit album has been pushed back yet again. As previously reported, the album was originally set to hit stores September 22 but was pushed back to October. Now Wale won't be able to introduce himself to the masses until November 10. His album is being pushed back for good reason however as he gets ready to embark on a national tour.

After being hailed by GQ magazine as “the greatest rapper since Jay-Z”, the Roc Nation managed MC will hit the road with his superior for the “North American College Arena Tour.” The tour offers an insane lineup featuring the DMV representa, Jay-Z, N.E.R.D. and Roc Nation's newest sensation, J. Cole.

While preparing for the tour he tweeted about his 30 minute slot saying,

“Damn...i just ran through my set for tour...and im sweatin like a mug...this gonna be the best 30mn set yall ever seen.”

The North American College Arena Tour kicks off Friday, October 9 at Penn State. The dates for the North American College Arena Tour are as follows:

Date                     City                            Venue

  Oct 09     State College, PA      Penn State/Bryce Jordan Center
  Oct 10     Cincinnati, OH         N Kentucky U/Bank of Kentucky Center
  Oct 13     Edmonton, AB           Rexall Place
  Oct 14     Calgary, AB            Pengrowth Saddledome
  Oct 15     Kelowna, BC            Prospera Place
  Oct 16     Vancouver, BC          General Motors Place
  Oct 17     Seattle, WA            KeyArena
  Oct 21     Ypsilanti, MI          Eastern Michigan U/Convocation Center
  Oct 23     Philadelphia, PA       Wachovia Center (Powerhouse)
  Oct 24     Providence, RI         Dunkin Donuts Center
  Oct 25     Amherst, MA            U of Mass/Mullins Center
  Oct 27     Baltimore, MD          1st Mariner Arena
  Oct 28     Columbus, OH           Ohio State/ Value City Arena the
                                     Schottenstein Center
  Oct 29     London, ON             John Labatt Centre
  Oct 30     Montreal, QC           Bell Centre
  Oct 31     Toronto, ON            Air Canada Centre
  Nov 01     Ottawa, ON             Scotiabank Place
  Nov 07     Fresno, CA             Fresno State/Save Mart Center
  Nov 08     Los Angeles, CA        UCLA/Pauley Pavilion
  Nov 12     Champaign, IL          University of Illinois/Assembly Hall
  Nov 19     Albuquerque, NM        Tingley Coliseum
  Nov 20     El Paso, TX            U of Texas at El Paso/Don