Artist Profile: Wale

My new favorite artist is Washington D.C. rapper, Wale (pronounced Wha-lay). He recently signed a joint venture record deal with British DJ Mark Ronson's Allido Records and Interscope. He and his manager have put together a great website called elitaste.com (see link to the right) through which they release free songs and mixtapes as well as sell retro sneakers.

Wale also has a clothing deal with boutique clothier 10 Deep who produces signature Wale T-shirts that when purchased come with a hard copy of his mixtapes.

His most recent mixtapes are 100 Miles and Running and The Mixtape About Nothing. The former blends hip-hop with go-go music. Go-go music is a style of funk music using live instrumentation that was popular in the DC Area during the 70's & 80's. On 100 Miles and Running, Wale also remixes Lily Allen's Smile, Amy Winehouse's Rehab, and French Disco artists Justice's D.A.N.C.E. (see video below).

His other mixtape is A Mixtape About Nothing. It's a tribute to long-running tv sitcom Seinfeld. The mixtape features samples of scenes from Seinfeld in between in each song. Wale also had a featured "Single of the Week" on iTunes with the smash hit Nike Boots.

If you're not up on Wale, you need to be. This guy is the future of hip-hop. I'm a huge fan. He's also been co-signed by Mark Ronson, Jay-Z, Fat Joe, and others. Check out elitaste.com to download A Mixtape About Nothing for free.