Brightest Young Things

Wale has managed through sheer force of will to make himself into one of the most talked-about and listened-to young rappers around, without even releasing a record into stores. He knows all the right people to hang out with (Mark Ronson, 9th Wonder, Travis Barker) the right remixes to jump on (MIA, JUSTICE, Lily Allen) and the right social media to employ (Myspace til it got lame, now Twitter and Ning).

Last year's free Mixtape About Nothing got listed all over "Best of 08" lists as if it was a straight album (on all the right blogs), plus he’s got videos for you, and wallpapers, and he’d be happy to talk to your Australian TV show about sneakers if you need him to. The remarkable thing about his self-promotion is how knowing it is—he’s happy to talk meta-critically about the way he’s managing his own career, how he’s trying to avoid the pitfalls of being just another number on some record label’s spreadsheet, forced to make crap that he doesn’t care about with producers he hates. He’s the new template for all American musicians of any musical genre in a lot of ways who know that if you don’t understand the business side of this business you could get as cornered and mishandled as legendary industry casualties from Grandmaster Flash to Kurt Cobain. His open ruthlessness should be a template for getting over for all of you young whippersnappers.

But of course all this hustle would be pointless cleverness without two key elements: lyrics and performance. (remember the BYT inaugural spectacular? we barely do too, so have some photos as a memory refresher:)

MTAN isn’t just a bunch of great production and the right references—it’s one of the most intricate and inspired rappers finding his ideal subject: what Snap would call the Blasé Blasé. He may be wrapping sick metaphors and clever punchlines together with Lupe-like repetition and elaborate rhyme schemes, but his mood is permanently lethargic, voice going down, trailing off tantalizingly at the ends of lines rather than rising up emotionally like Kanye. It’s a combination of southern laid-back and northern complexity, totally appropriate for an anointed representative of DC style.

Of course, on the other hand, and as opposed to so many rappers, he kicks the ass out of a stage show. It helps that he performs with a classically trained Go-go band these days, but even with pre-recorded shit he never seems content to just point his finger and say his words—he wants you to party and he knows that Hip Hop is still the king of making you get that.

I talked to him while he was on break from recording, so this interview seems rushed that’s why—but he still answered all of my pretentious potshot questions thoughtfully and with good humor. He’s coming to DC on Wednesday, and I can’t imagine people not coming out of the woodwork to welcome him home. Don’t miss catching him before he actually puts out a record, which I assume will raise him, and the DC music scene along with him, into the uberutteroverstratoblogosphere of celebrity magazines and super-model dating. Meagan Good, you have my number, give me a call if you want me to hook you up.

WARNING: This interview contains no new information about when his album, the Chillin video, or the long overdue mixtape is coming out. Sorry, I just didn’t feel like pressuring the dude any further.

BYT: I’ve been watching videos of you and UCB playing the past couple of months, and it looks like you’re having a shitload of fun up there.

The Attention Deficit Tour : Wale with UCB - Chillin' from rkwehtoe on Vimeo.

Wale: We try and make the most of it.

BYT: I saw one show where you were like, “Ya’ll grew up on DJs and scratching but I grew up on THIS shit,” pointing to the drummer. Does it just feel more natural with a live band performing with you?
Wale: Oh yeah. That’s the life I grew up in. This is how I do my thing, for real, with live music.

BYT: So it makes sense that you use a lot of live drums on your recordings…
Wale: It’s a direct influence. From a subconscious standpoint, I don’t plan it. Those are the beats I gravitate to.

BYT: There’s a lot of attention focused on DC these days…
Wale: In terms of music?

BYT: In music, in fashion, art, all that. It seems like people are talking about us like we’re a center for things where before we were on the fringes. Or is that just hype?
Wale: I’m just too close to it to know if that is the case or not. I can’t really tell. I didn’t even know there were people talking about DC. Some people tell me there’s nothing and nobody worth mentioning in DC, so I wouldn’t be able to tell.

BYT: But do you think Hip Hop needs DC and DC influenced sounds to stay relevant, or to move forward?
Wale: I hope so; you know what I’m saying? The music is just honest. It’s like, “This is where I’m from, I’m proud of it. This is our sound.” And the Gaga record is just a way to let people know what’s coming.

BYT: You’ve said that you want to become a brand, not a product. What does that mean to you?
Wale: Just for people to trust what I’m doing. Not just, “Oh he’s top ten on Billboard, so we gotta buy his record,” nah but because it’s good music. If you get an album, you can trust it; trust in me, as an artist and a whole person. You can trust that it’s going to be good because everything I’ve done so far has been the joint.

BYT: Does it have to do with maintaining control of your own image and career choices?
Wale: Yeah definitely.

BYT: How do you pull that off?
Wale: If you do it yourself, and prove that you can do it yourself, then whoever wants to partner with you will let you do it yourself.

BYT: People are as siked about Back to the Feature as they would be about a new record in the past. Is there even a difference between the two nowadays?
Wale: Well an album is more political, and you have to do certain things, as far as songs or whatever, you have to do certain things. Like you can only have a certain amount so it’s a team effort. With a mixtape you can do whatever you want.

BYT: You’ve been working on both all this year, so which do you prefer so far, in terms of freedom or recording process or end result?
Wale: Mixtapes, honestly, because you can put it out whenever you want to and you can just throw it out.

BYT: The Mixtape About Nothing is so well organized, and it contains a lot of humor. Is that an element that will carry over on your new songs or was that more just a theme that you were sticking with for those tracks?
Wale: It’s just a different body of work. That was that and this is this. I don’t want to cover the same ground on the album that I covered on the mixtape. The album is more about my life, more things that have gone on in my life.

BYT: I saw that you leaked a song of K’naan’s on your twitter the other day, something he wrote about Somalia. Given that you both have African backgrounds, do you think that musicians like y’all bring something new to Hip Hop, something less materialist and more serious?
Wale: It just shows that it’s a world music, not just New York music, or American music. It shows that Hip Hop is bigger than just a region. It’s just the evolution of music in general, of Hip Hop in general. People are doing songs with MIA. She doesn’t even have a genre; you don’t know what she is. As well as Gaga—she’s like Aguilera mixed with…something else! Or MIA mixed with… Madonna! We really need to do a record with her. There’s just no such thing as those boxes no more, it’s just music now.

BYT: For the record it would be sick if you did a song with Madonna. But about that kind of thing…did you go to house clubs a lot when you were younger, or do you still?
Wale: I used to go to clubs a lot but now I just kind of chill. I like to stay in the house now, because whenever I go it’s like an event. I just stay to myself.

BYT: But you’ve done more electroish club tracks than most other rappers recently. Is that something you’re going to keep doing or work into your albums?
Wale: The Baltimore sound is expanding. I think it’s all about music evolving. This year or next year is going to be a big year for Baltimore club music.

BYT: I’ve heard this term a lot recently for musicians and fans who cross over between the club music and hip hop worlds—Blipster. What’s up with that, is it a racist term or is it useful or is it just stupid?
Wale: I don’t know what that is. I’ve been making music since before that kind of thing became well known, so I don’t even know what that term means. It’s just putting a box on something that can’t even really be boxed, just trying to force it in and call it something.

BYT: Given that everything is changing a lot these days, is the measure of success for a rapper the same as it was in the late 90s? What does it mean to be a success at the game these days?
Wale: Remaining relevant. Lasting relevance: just to be around and for people to care about your product and trust in your brand. Souja Boy’s successful, Eminem’s successful, Jay-Z—successful, Lil Wayne—successful. Whether they have a #1 song on the charts or not, they’re a brand that people trust. Soulja Boy’s got 20,000 little girls from Minnesota singing his song verbatim. Even three years from now, most likely. You have to reinvent yourself. Outkast is the master of reinventing themselves. Or a lot of women cut their hair, get a whole new look and the music sounds different. It’s important to reinvent yourself so you don’t cover the same ground. That’s how you stay around for a while.

BYT: Well I really appreciate your time…
Wale: It’s all good man.

BYT: See you when you get back to DC!

Want more:
Socialize with Wale online:
on myspace: http://www.myspace.com/wale
and
on twitter: http://twitter.com/wale
+ come see him, Tabi Bonney and UCB do all sorts of cool stuff onstage tomorrow (June 3rd) for the Rock the Vote Show @ 930 club
tickets and details here