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Washington, D.C. (2004 – present)

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Folarin (born September 21, 1984 in Washington, D.C.), better known by his stage name Wale, is an American rapper and producer. Fusing DC’s homegrown go-go genre with a streetwise Northern hip-hop sensibility, he takes samples from all genres and blends them together with lyrical dexterity. In 2005 he released his debut mixtape, Paint a Picture, and has since released four more. His debut album, Attention Deficit, was released November 10, 2009.

Wale was born to Nigerian immigrant parents in Washington, DC. He grew up on Peabody Street in Northwest DC and moved to Largo, Maryland as a teenager. He attended seven different high schools in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, finally graduating from Quince Orchard High School in 2001. He went to Robert Morris College and Virginia State University on football scholarships, and then Bowie State University but dropped out in 2004 to pursue music full-time. Before music started paying the bills, Wale worked day jobs at Sprint, Up Against The Wall and Downtown Locker Room.

Wale emerged onto the local DC hip hop scene with the help of WKYS-FM’s DJ Alizay. Wale began getting radio play in 2004 with a single called “Rhyme of the Century” which got Wale in the June 2005 “Unsigned Hype” section of Source magazine and his buzz started growing.

In November 2006, a feature ran on AllHipHop.com’s Breeding Ground about Wale. The day before Thanksgiving, Wale took the stage between Lil Wayne and T.i. during the Southern Invasion tour at the Verizon Center.
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Popular tags: hip-hop, rap, hip hop, dc, go-go  See more

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  • Piratesquid

    Probably one of the most boring "newer" people in rap.

    Monday evening

  • Baseddoom92

    Attention Deficit isn't bad.

    Monday afternoon

  • riddickhead

    i'm vibin sabotage and illest bitch.. but, i agree with y'all. wale will soon become the mainstream he doesn't want to be. swag ass shit rap music pls don't wale

    Saturday morning

  • Renmau5

    Sadly Wale lost all the respect i had for him :/ [2] I miss the old Wale, excuse my hipster

    Friday morning

  • khangastain

    90210!

    Friday morning

  • Dioraaaaa

    Wale has slowly erased all of the go-go from his sound.[5]

    11 days ago

  • Mrbeebo

    Wale has slowly erased all of the go-go from his sound.[4] its almost all 'swag rap' these days

    18 days ago

  • lewiskendell

    Wish all of Ambition was as good as the title track. Still, not a terrible album. He can just do better.

    20 days ago

  • Queenpromotee

    Check out Sky High in-stores 3/13 If you haven’t Checked out this Video already, Here it goes!!!!! http://www.vevo.com/watch/mike-posner/looks-like-sex/USRV81100317 “Looks Like Sex” is my favorite single from Mike Posner’s New album!!!

    22 days ago

  • Rascott03

    Focused & Slight Work >>>

    last month

  • Fantasta

    cosmic flow

    last month

  • PrettyFlacko

    Sadly Wale lost all the respect i had for him :/

    last month

  • PrettyFlacko

    Wale has slowly erased all of the go-go from his sound.[3]

    last month

  • reihirosuzuki

    Slight Work is the next Dance (A$$) and Rack City [2] Hopefully / Hopefully not. Great song, don't want everybody singing it.

    last month

  • callcollectplz

    Wale has slowly erased all of the go-go from his sound. [2] One of the main reasons I lost interest in his music since he dropped More About Nothing mixtape.

    last month

  • ixlovextofu

    Wale has slowly erased all of the go-go from his sound. Also, Ron Paul is a racist, so um, Wale may want to rethink things. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/President/2011/1229/Racist-newsletter-timeline-What-Ron-Paul-has-said

    last month

  • Tedual

    dudes not bad at all

    last month

  • lenn9o9n

    g'shit posting that ron paul 2012 video. wale knows what the fuck is up

    last month

  • lkxtlks

    Slight Work is the next Dance (A$$) and Rack City

    last month

  • kwayne16

    that way <3

    last month
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