Wale (rapper)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wale
FedExField in 2021
Background information
Birth nameOlubowale Victor Akintimehin
Also known asRalph Folarin[1]
Born (1984-09-21) September 21, 1984 (age 39)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
OriginGaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.
GenresHip hop
Occupations
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
DiscographyWale discography
Years active2005–present
Labels
Formerly ofAll City Chess Club
Children2
Websitewalemusic.com

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin (born September 21, 1984), better known by his stage name Wale (

Washington D.C. and led Wale to gain further local recognition as he amassed a number of follow-up releases. Wale signed with English DJ-producer Mark Ronson's Allido Records in 2007, and after a three-label bidding war, he entered a joint venture with Interscope Records for US$1.3 million the following year. During this time, Wale's mixtapes and singles saw national attention as he appeared on MTV
and various Black America-focused magazines.

Wale's debut studio album,

Grammy Award-nominated top 40 single "Lotus Flower Bomb" (featuring Miguel), the album saw further critical and commercial success, and peaked at number two on the Billboard 200. His third and fourth albums, The Gifted (2013) and The Album About Nothing (2015) both debuted atop the chart; the former was led by the single "Bad" (featuring Tiara Thomas or Rihanna
), which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting entry as a lead artist.

Wale then shifted for lighter, commercially-oriented subject matter and wider female appeal for his following albums Shine (2015), Wow... That's Crazy (2019), and Folarin II (2022), of which spawned the Billboard Hot 100-charting singles "My PYT", "On Chill" (featuring Jeremih), and "Poke It Out" (featuring J. Cole), respectively.[3][4][5][6] Folarin II marked his final album with Maybach Music Group, and he signed with Def Jam Recordings in the following year of its release.[7][8]

Biography

1984–2007: Early life and career beginnings

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin was born on September 21, 1984, in

BDS spins since DJ Kool
in the early 1990s. The song was included in Wale's first mixtape, Paint a Picture.

In July 2006, Wale found representation in Daniel Weisman, a former club

XM Radio Channel 66, where it was played twice in one day. Both "Breakdown" and "Uptown Roamers" were on Wale's second mixtape, Hate Is the New Love. The song "Breakdown" was featured on the video game Madden NFL 09
. Wale won the award for "D. C. Metro Breakthrough Artist of the Year" at WKYS's Go-Go Awards in November 2006.[16] On December 15, The Fader magazine associate editor Nick "Catchdubs" Barat visited Wale for an interview and photo shoot, which appeared in the March 2007 issue of The Fader.[17] Manager Weisman told HitQuarters that the Fader feature, given the magazine's music/culture/fashion orientation, laid an important foundation for Wale to position himself as a "cool, smart, up-and-coming hip-hop artist who might actually be Drake".[14]

2007–2009: National attention and major label signing

In January 2007, Wale released a new single to radio called "Good Girls" produced by Gerard Thomas and Demario Bridges for TeamMusicGroup (LeTroy Davis). Wale later appeared on

URB
along with French electro group Justice.

In March 2008, Wale signed a joint venture deal with Mark Ronson's

Def Jam all competed to sign Wale.[12] On May 30, Wale released his fourth mixtapeThe Mixtape About Nothing, heavily produced by Best Kept Secret.[23] Wale said that the television show Seinfeld inspired The Mixtape About Nothing: "the TV show's 'honest dialogue' mirrors his lyrical style, which frequently references pop culture and politics while avoiding gangster-rap bluster".[24]
After signing with Interscope, Wale began recording tracks for his major label debut: in a 2008 interview with
T.R.O.Y. alongside Lupe Fiasco and Kardinal Offishall.[26] Rapper Young Chris of rap duo Young Gunz also began plans for a collaboration mixtape with Wale.[27]

Wale (right) and fellow rapper Big Sean in 2009

On June 19, 2009, Wale released his fifth mixtape, Back to the Feature, on which eleven of the tracks were produced by

Pitchfork Media,[30] but Colin McGowan of Cokemachineglow commented that it represented neither "a step forward or back [for the artist] so much as shouting-in-place. "[31]
Wale did a guest performance on "Change", a song by the Australian singer-songwriter Daniel Merriweather. It was written by Merriweather and Andrew Wyatt and produced by Mark Ronson. It was released on January 30, 2009, in the United States and Canada, and February 2, 2009, in the UK (where the song peaked at no.8). The song is included on Merriweather's album Love & War. On September 13, Wale, alongside the DC-based musicians of UCB (Uncalled 4 Band)- The Board Administration artists, served as the official house band for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.[32]

2009–10: Attention Deficit

Released on November 10, 2009, Wale's debut album,

In March 2010, Wale announced he and
K'Naan would kick off a short co-headlining tour across the east coast of the US, beginning at the end of March in New York City.[36] During this time, Wale was also in the studio with Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, Roscoe Dash, Sean Garrett, and Drumma Boy
.

In May 2010, Wale abruptly canceled a scheduled performance at DC Black Pride, an annual black gay pride event. In an email to the event's organizer, Wale's manager claimed he was unaware it was a gay event when he agreed to perform. On May 28, however, it was announced he would perform alongside the headliner for free.[37]

On August 3, 2010, Wale released his sixth mixtape, More About Nothing hosted by DJ Omega a follow-up to his critically acclaimed

Waka Flocka, Daniel Merriweather, UCB, Board Administration Artists' Tiara Thomas, Black Cobain, Fat Trel, and NBA Player and DC Native Kevin Durant
. In the last half of 2010, inspired by
K'Naan
.

2011: Signing to MMG and Ambition

Wale performs with Black Cobain in his hometown of Washington, D.C. in 2011.

On February 5, 2011, during

MTV Networks regarding the potential release of two albums in 2011. Later the same month, he confirmed pre-production efforts for Ambition, his second album, slated for a fall 2011 release under Maybach and Warner Music Groups. Production for Ambition took place at ZAC Recording in Atlanta, Georgia with The Board Administration Producer Tone P. Anticipation for Ambition was incited through the release and heavy viral promotion of mixtape, The Eleven One Eleven Theory done under Wale's label, The Board Administration. The Eleven One Eleven Theory debuted August 17, 2011, on Life and Times in honor of Wale's Twitter milestone of reaching one million followers and was purposefully made with the intent to build widespread anticipation for the November 1, 2011, scheduled release date of Ambition.[41] This marketing strategy was the brainchild of The Board Administration CEO Le'Greg O. Harrison and was executed through savvy social media integration, resulting in the first shut down of renowned file sharing site Hulkshare in the first 4 seconds of posting the link.[42] Wale is the first mainstream artist to officially crash Hulkshare.[43]

On September 7, 2011, Wale announced plans for a 32-city domestic tour titled The Ambition Tour, which initiated October 2, 2011, in Minneapolis Minnesota and has dates through December 2011.[44] The Board Administration Artist

Meek Mill, Pusha T, J. Cole, Big Sean, Miguel, and more.[44] The tour was booked by NUE Agency.[45]
On September 28, 2011, Wale revealed that Ambition was complete and released the single "Lotus Flower Bomb", featuring Miguel on Twitter. On September 29, 2011, Funk Master Flex debuted Wale's song "Tats on my Arms", featuring Rick Ross.[46] The next day, Wale released the album cover for Ambition.[47] On October 14, 2011, Wale released the single "Focused", featuring Kid Cudi.[48] The official Ambition track listing includes 15 songs.[49] The Board Administration launched a robust social media campaign integrating never-seen-before social media strategy and savvy to virally promote Ambition. The promotional campaign included a five-part "making of" documentary, a Twitter campaign centered on a hashtag blitz–aptly named #Ambition, daily new music and video releases from Wale, and promotional materials for purchase through Warner Music Group and Maybach Music Group such as Ambition wristbands and graphic tees.[50] These efforts were also supported by televised "making of" episodes through networks such as MTV that hosted Sucker Free Road to Release.[51] The never-seen-before element of Wale's Ambition promo blitz included a partnership formed between the current most popular file sharing site Hulkshare and The Board Administration.[50] Greater than 3 million people frequent Hulkshare daily, and through this collaboration could view banner ads on practically every Hulkshare download page flanked with Wale's profile and a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the album released.[50]

On October 27, 2011, Wale unveiled an Ambition snippet sampler on YouTube for people to preview the album.[52] Later the same day, a private Ambition media listening event, held at the Gansevoort Hotel of Chelsea New York, was attended by music executives, bloggers, various artists, and hip hop heads.[52] On November 2, 2011, Myspace and Hot 97 presented a complimentary Wale and friends midnight Ambition release show at The Highline Ballroom in New York City. The event was hosted by Miss Info and featured special guest DJ Funkmaster Flex.[53] The album debuted number two on the Billboard 200, selling 162,600 copies in its first week.[54] The album initially received mixed reviews, including a negative one in Wale's local Washington City Paper.[55] However, the album currently holds a 69/100 score on Metacritic, signifying "generally favorable reviews. "[56]

2012–2017: The Gifted, The Album About Nothing, Shine

On November 25, 2011, shortly after the release of Ambition, Wale announced on Twitter that he has already begun working on his third album.[57] In an interview with UpVenue in January 2012, Wale confirmed the third album and said the focus would be about his growth as a person.[58] In June , he was featured on Maybach Music Group's second studio album

Diplo, Beat Billionaire and Rico Love among others.[60]
Around this time, Wale also started working on his third studio album, which he stated would be released in 2013.

When speaking of his third studio album Wale would say, "it's going to have one sound, very, very soulful", and said that the first single, "Bad", "is a pretty good indication of the direction I'm going for this project." The album was set for release on June 25, 2013, with his fourth album coming a couple months after that.[61] Wale announced he was collaborating with Jerry Seinfeld on his fourth studio album, which would be titled The Album About Nothing.[62] He later said he was also collaborate with producer No I.D. on the album. He also confirmed he would release a collaboration mixtape with Meek Mill during 2013.[63]

In December 2012, Wale had announced he was planning on releasing a Go-go album: "I wanna do the album for me. This is the second time I'm announcing it, but I'm doing a Go-Go album after my album. And when I say Go-Go I don't mean like cheesy Go-Go. It's gonna be sequenced. It's gonna be me probably rapping only 40-percent on the album, but getting the sound out."[64]

To build hype for The Gifted, Wale released "Sight of the Sun", a remix of the

Fun. song of the same name.[65]
This was similar to the songs "Bittersweet" and "Fly Away", which he released prior to Attention: Deficit.

On September 9, 2014, Wale released the first single from the album The Album About Nothing titled "The Body" featuring American singer

, among others.

On March 31, 2015, Wale released his fourth studio album

SZA among others.[68] It became his second No. 1 album in the United States.[69] It was revealed that Wale would next serve as the Executive Producer for Maybach Music Group's next collaborative album Self Made 4.[70]

Wale also recorded the original music theme for the popular

First Take, which features journalists/panelists Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman and moderator/host Molly Qerim. The two-hour show, which airs twice daily at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on ESPN
, features Wale's theme at the beginning of the show.

On April 28, 2017, Wale's fifth studio album, Shine was released, selling 28,000 units in its first week.

2018–present: It's Complicated, Self Promotion, Warner Records, Free Lunch, Wow... That's Crazy and Folarin II

After parting ways with Atlantic Records in February,[71] Wale released a surprise four-track EP titled It's Complicated on March 13, 2018.[72][73] Two months later, he release a second EP titled Self Promotion on May 8, 2018.[74][75] The four-track EP had a single guest feature in R&B singer, Jacquees. On May 16, it was announced that Wale had been signed to Warner Records.[76] On September 14, he released a third EP titled Free Lunch, with guest appearances from long time friend and collaborator, J. Cole and Eric Bellinger.[77][78] In December 2018, Wale released two tracks, "Winter Wars" and "Poledancer".[79] His sixth album, Wow... That's Crazy was released on October 11, 2019. It included the single, "On Chill". On June 19, 2020, Wale released an EP, The Imperfect Storm.[80]

On October 22, 2021, Wale released Folarin II, an album follow-up to his 2012 mixtape Folarin.[6][81]

Musical style

In an interview with Flavorwire, Wale said that he incorporates elements of go-go in his music.[82] Cyril Cordor of AllMusic described go-go as "a more raw, percussion-driven offshoot of disco" that originated in the Washington, D. C. area. Wale's early singles that were played primarily in his local metropolitan area heavily sampled 1990s go-go records.[12] Reviewing Attention Deficit, David Jeffries of allmusic remarked that Wale had a "post-Kanye, post-Lil Wayne, alternative-meets-hardcore style" and commented that Wale's single "Chillin'", which featured Lady Gaga, "crafts an instant floor-filler out of a sample from the 1969 hit 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye'".[83]

Personal life

Wale is a fan of the

The Street Profits to the ring for their title shot versus champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly on October 2, 2019. At WrestleMania 37, he escorted former Intercontinental Champion Big E to the ring versus champion Apollo Crews. Wale also performs Big E's new theme song as a singles competitor.[89]

Discography

Other ventures

Wale teamed up with Philadelphia retailer Ruvilla, and

ASICS for a product called "Bottle Rocket" Asics Gel Lyte III in 2015.[90] In 2016, he teamed with ASICS again with a product that features gold and shades of black and blue.[90]

Television appearance

Wale portrays Chango in season 3 of American Gods.[91]

Awards and nominations

African Muzik Magazine Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2014 Wale Best Male Diaspora[92] Nominated

BET Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 "Lotus Flower Bomb" Viewer's Choice Nominated[93]
Best Collaboration Won[93]
2014 "LoveHate Thing" Centric Award Nominated[94]

BET Hip Hop Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010 Wale Best New Artist Nominated[95]
2011 "No Hands" Best Collaboration Nominated
Best Club Banger Won[96]
2012 "Lotus Flower Bomb" Best Hip-Hop Video Nominated[97]
Perfect Combo Nominated[98]
2013 Wale Album Of The Year Nominated[99]
Lyricist Of The Year Nominated[100]
2015 The Album About Nothing Album of the Year Nominated

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2013
"Lotus Flower Bomb" Best Rap Song Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2015 "The White Shoes" Best Video with a Social Message Nominated

Nigeria Entertainment Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010 Himself Best International Artist Won[101]
2014 Diaspora Artist of the Year Nominated

Soul Train Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2010 Wale Best New Artist Nominated
2012 "Lotus Flower Bomb" Best Hip-Hop Song Nominated
2012 "Lotus Flower Bomb" Song of the Year Nominated
2013 Bad (feat. Tiara Thomas) Best Hip Hop Song of the Year Won

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