This is my first real post on this blog--I had been hoping to do it about this up-and-becoming artist:Up-and-becoming DC hip-hop artist Wale ("Wal-ay" not "Wally") Twittered out a leak of a new record, "Penthouse Anthem," this morning. It's a soft-synth, piano, neo-soulful joint about strippers that feels like how he described it: "WaleDC: dis isnt no "hiphophead' record..this is for people who watch strippers nd fall in love temporarily.and for the beautiful women who ant shy." (He initially said "shyt" at the end but corrected himself in a later Tweet.)
DownL[oad]ink: http://www.zshare.net/download/5813253237b67306/
Wale just kicked off a grass-[post-being-on-The-]roots['s-album "Rising Down"] tour to gain support for his summer album "ATTENTION: DEFICIT"--his first--and to show off his and his band's hip-hop and go-go music chops. He recently released his first single for the album: "Chillin" (featuring Lady Gaga) (DownLink: http://www.zshare.net/audio/573523545d610dc4/.) He also is dropping another mixtape "Back to the Feature" on April 29. In the must-do-meantime check out his older tapes (the Seinfeld-inspired) "Mixtape About Nothing" as well as "100 Miles and Running" (he has others, but those two are the s[l]ickest.)
I caught his second show of the tour at Syracuse University, (Go Orange!), where the above picture was taken (photo credit: A.J. Chavar); I'm front row, third from the left. My friends and I left Walectsatic--dudes killed it--and I went home and looked up some go-go music, something I have no doubt he was hoping some concert go-goers'd do after he old-schooled us on this DC-funk-genre scene.
He played everything from "Rising Up" (off the aforementioned Roots album) to "Breakdown" off of 100MAR to "Back in the Go-Go" to "Chillin" (of course) and to Internet-populars "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." and "Nike Boots" (which is available on iTunes--buy that.) For a longer review of the show and an interview, check out the Daily Orange's pieces. (Quick repre for J. Cole, the first signed to Jay-Z's new Roc Nation label and one of the opening acts: check him now so you're ahead of the game.)
In the DO interview, Wale revealed that he's out $25K because of his current tour: "I have to spread the word. By any means necessary I have to spread the word. If that means touring with a band and I can barely afford it, so be it. Because it's a message. You gotta let people know that I'm here and I care about the culture. Hopefully I can win over enough fans to be relevant and to make the album I would like to make further down the road and keep this thing going. Break from the monotony of things that you're paying attention to that you shouldn't be."
Deep. And Real.
If this dude doesn't make it big then I give up on music. That quote portrays the love and passion music needs and deserves.
Up-And-Becoming Artist: Wale
