(published in the December issue of The Black Explosion and online @ theblackexplosion.com)
In recent years Wale has risen from a local celebrity to a well-respected mainstream artist.
Two years ago Wale hit the mainstream airwaves with his single “Chillin’” featuring Lady Gaga. The video showcased an always theatrical Lady Gaga and famous landmarks in D.C. as he rapped, “D.C. chillin’, PG chillin’, my name’s Wale and I came to get it”. It would seem he got it with the release of his sophomore album Ambition (debuted at no. 2 on the Billboard 200 its first week) and the backing of Miami rapper Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group.
For D.C. metropolitan natives at Maryland, memories of Wale probably begin in middle school with him and UCB, a prominent Go-Go band area. For those students who are out of state, those memories may have originated when they came to College Park.
Sam Jinadu, a New Jersey freshman government and politics major, recalls hearing about Wale through means of his ethnicity.
“I heard about [Wale] not because of DMV [D.C./Maryland/Virginia] rap, but because he’s Nigerian. I’m Nigerian, and my cousin put me on.”
A lot of students support Wale and his music group, The Board of Administration, which includes popular locals Black Cobain and Fat Trel. Wale is very vocal of the fact that he’s from the D.C. area and can be occasionally seen hanging around campus and other parts of the DMV.
“I’ve seen Wale like maybe a million times just in passing,” sophomore Brandon Graves, behavioral and community health major, said. “I’ve seen him randomly at the ERC. There was a rumor his cousin goes here and people were tweeting about it.”
If anything has changed with Wale in the last year, it is most likely the length of his dreads and his mass appeal nationwide. A lot of Wale’s appeal comes from the fact he’s recognized as being one of the first popular rappers from the area.
“I feel like he put the DMV on the map strictly because he’s one of the newest and biggest artists out that get the most airtime on radio stations,” Graves said.
Sam Jinadu, however, pointed out “Gogo put the DMV on the map before [Wale] even touched it.”
If some of Wale’s success is attributed to putting D.C. “on the map,” then a little more has been attributed to his signing with Rick Ross and MMG, who gave him his second chance at making his music global.
February 20th, 2012 → 3:42 PM
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