Wale

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin was born on September 21, 1984, in Northwest, Washington, D.C. His parents were both from the Yoruba ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria and came from Austria to the United States in 1979. Wale's family first lived in the Brightwood neighborhood of Northwest, D.C., then moved to Montgomery County, Maryland, when Wale was 10. He graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg in 2002 and attended Robert Morris University and Virginia State University on football scholarships, then transferred to Bowie State University, but dropped out due to academic reasons. His first recorded track, "Rhyme of the Century," became his first song played on local radio. In 2006, he was featured in the "Unsigned Hype" column of The Source magazine and signed to local label Studio 43. "Dig Dug (Shake It)" became the most requested song by a local artist in Washington, D.C. radio history. In July 2006, Wale found representation in Daniel Weisman, a former club DJ and promoter with no previous management experience. In January 2007, Wale released "Good Girls" to radio. He later appeared on Mark Ronson's remix of Lily Allen's "Smile" and was a headliner on Ronson's UK tour. In June 2007, Wale signed a production deal with Ronson's Allido Records. In March 2008, he signed a joint venture deal with Allido and Interscope, after Epic Records, Atlantic Records, and Def Jam all competed to sign him. On May 30, 2008, he released The Mixtape About Nothing, inspired by Seinfeld. His debut album Attention Deficit was released on November 10, 2009, debuting at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and selling 28,000 copies in its first week. Interscope claimed the LP was undershipped.

In Their Own Story

In September 2006, after dropping the go-go influenced single "Breakdown" (sampled from Huck-A-Bucks "Sexy Girl"), which got a mention in The Washington Post, Wale released his first non-go-go original single, "Uptown Roamers." On September 14, 2006, "Uptown Roamers" debuted on XM Radio Channel 66, where it was played twice in one day. Both songs were on his second mixtape, Hate Is the New Love. "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. 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. Manager Weisman told HitQuarters that the Fader feature laid an important foundation for Wale to position himself as a "cool, smart, up-and-coming hip-hop artist who might be Drake." On July 11, 2007, Wale released his third mixtape, 100 Miles & Running, as a free download on Myspace, featuring Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather, Amy Winehouse, and Lily Allen. It was released the same day as his performance at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, where Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Maroon 5, Clive Davis, Eve, and Danny Masterson were in attendance. There, Wale was interviewed by MTV News for his first national TV feature on August 16. With Ronson, Wale performed "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas. The Washington Post profiled Wale on the front page of the Sunday Style section on October 21, 2007. He was featured on the cover of the 150th issue of URB along with French electro group Justice. On June 19, 2009, Wale released his fifth mixtape, Back to the Feature, with eleven tracks produced by 9th Wonder, and contributions from Mark Ronson and others. The mixtape featured K'naan, Talib Kweli, Joell Ortiz, Beanie Sigel, Currensy, J. Cole, and Bun B. On September 13, 2009, Wale and the D.C.-based musicians of UCB served as the official house band for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

Reader's Guide

Wale is a rapper known for blending go-go rhythms with introspective bars and cultural commentary. His career began with local radio success in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, leading to a major label signing with Interscope via Mark Ronson's Allido Records. His debut album Attention Deficit (2009) was critically well-received but commercially underperformed due to being undershipped. He gained mainstream recognition with his guest appearance on Waka Flocka Flame's 2010 single "No Hands" (featuring Roscoe Dash), which peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and received diamond certification. He then signed with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group, an imprint of Warner Records, releasing Ambition (2011), which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and included the Grammy-nominated top 40 single "Lotus Flower Bomb" (featuring Miguel). His third and fourth albums, The Gifted (2013) and The Album About Nothing (2015), both debuted atop the Billboard 200. The Gifted's lead single "Bad" (featuring Tiara Thomas) peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, his highest-charting entry as a lead artist. His next three albums—Shine (2017), Wow... That's Crazy (2019), and Folarin II (2021)—spawned the Billboard Hot 100-charting singles "My PYT," "On Chill" (featuring Jeremih), and "Poke It Out" (featuring J. Cole), respectively. Folarin II marked his final album with Maybach Music Group, and he signed with Def Jam Recordings the following year.

Did You Know?

• Wale's first recorded track was called 'Rhyme of the Century,' and it became his first song to be played on local radio.
• His 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.
• He performed 'W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.' with Mark Ronson at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas.
• Wale is the cousin of actor Gbenga Akinnagbe, best known for playing Chris Partlow on HBO's The Wire.