Wale x Tabi x Raheem DeVaughn x Phil Ade x X.O. Haiti Benefit

Untitled from Jaime Aquino on Vimeo.

Great concert. Write-up and IIIrd World photos to follow.........

DMV Helps Haiti Benefit Concert at 9:30 Club Jan 18th

D.C. artists are coming together Monday, January 18th at the 9:30 Club to raise much-needed financial support for earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Wale, coming off of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club earlier this month, will headline. He’ll be supported by other D.C. area artists including D.C. Don Juan, Tabi Bonney, Phil Ade, XO, Kingpen Slim, K-Beta, Que (formerly of Day26) – and special surprise guests will take the stage as well. The benefit concert will be hosted by Chris Cole of BET’s College Hill South Beach. Organized by DMV Helps Haiti, all ticket sales will be donated to the Partners in Health Organization and Yéle Haiti, founded by Wyclef Jean. The artists are donating their performances, the 9:30 Club has donated the use of the venue, club employees are donating their wages and the advance ticket sales service charge also will be donated.

Buy Tickets HERE

Wale, Drake, and Kid Cudi in GQ's Man of the Year issue

WP: Wale opens a panderer's box

Wale Ovechkin is still new to some people. Here is the Post's review of his new album, Attention Deficit. I'm thinking that I need to write a review, but I've been playing these songs for months now, so listening to a concise group of them is difficult.

WP:

Hip-hop isn't dead -- it's just going through a monumental identity crisis.

Jay-Z clings to his credibility while Miley Cyrus gives him a shout-out on her latest single. Kanye West follows an awards show outburst with a blog apology that feels both petulant and contrite. Lil Wayne tells Katie Couric he's a gangster, then takes her bowling.

If hip-hop -- once our most radical, rebellious popform -- is finally congealing into the snoozy status quo, how can today's rappers feel anything but conflicted?

The genre's latest ball of contradictions comes bouncing out of Washington, D.C. His name is Wale, and after a two-year slog through the record industry's broken-down hype machine, his major-label debut "Attention Deficit," finally arrives Tuesday. It's a stellar offering from a wildly gifted rapper, but almost predictably, Wale's feelings are mixed.

"I won't rest till I'm given my respect," he proclaims on "Triumph," as if fame is something he deserves.

"Am I doing this for them or me?" he second-guesses on "Contemplate," as if fame is something he dreads.

And back and forth it goes, with the rapper's sticky, dexterous flow holding the proceedings together like so much rubber cement.

For proof of Wale's lyrical acrobatics, look no further than "Pretty Girls," where the rapper's best pickup line involves two bottles of champagne, a football joke and a healthy credit rating: "What you sippin' on? It's no problem/Black and gold bottles like I'm pro-New Orleans/But shorty, I'm far from a Saint/But I got two AmExes that look the same way."

This is some masterful wordplay -- with an emphasis on play -- and it makes for the album's most dazzling cut. The song's thundering, go-go-inflected track helps, too. Production duo Best Kept Secret built it around a sample from local stalwarts Backyard Band and it sounds like a house party crumbling in an earthquake. How it will fare on national radio is anyone's guess, but for locals fluent in go-go, "Pretty Girls" is a thriller.

Wale has a fantastic ear for beats, though you wouldn't know it after hearing "Attention Deficit" in its entirety. There's some real dreck from producers Mark Ronson ("90210") and the Neptunes ("Let It Loose"). Wale is either adopting the please-all-audiences model West popularized, or his label's invisible hand is fussing with the dials. (In a delicious stroke of irony, Interscope reportedly zapped a song from the track list titled "Artistic Integrity.")

Sometimes pandering to the masses isn't such a bad idea. The album's lead single "Chillin," is a club-friendly romper with a chorus co-hosted by ascendant weirdo Lady Gaga. Purists balked at the collaboration when it hit the blogosphere last spring, dismissing it as too left field. Had M.I.A. or Rihanna belted that same exact hook, this tune would still be taking hourly victory laps across the airwaves. And there's a precedent here, too. Does anyone remember back in 1985, when local go-go icons E.U. crossed paths with pop-eccentric-turned-gay-culture-icon Grace Jones?

By the end of his 14-track, big-league debut, Wale sounds nothing less than harried, hustling to please the gods of Billboard, radio, MTV, the blogosphere and his home town. But with "Mirrors" he tries to brush those extraneous pressures off his shoulders with his most poignant line: "What the fans can't see, that mirror gonna notice."

What a concept: a rapper who answers to an audience of one.

Wale x The Roots "Pretty Girls" Live on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

To bring in the release of his new album, Attention Deficit, Wale was a guest on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon yesterday. Wale performs his song "Pretty Girls" with The Roots backing him up, and Black Thought handling the second verse. Attention Deficit is in stores now.

UCB "Pat Your Weave" feat. Wale

More love from the DMV.
Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit, is in stores tomorrow.

Chrisette Michele "Fragile" featuring Wale

Fragile - Chrisette Michele

Took a minute for this video to finally drop, but here's Chrisette Michele's latest vid, "Fragile," featuring Wale. Chrisette's sophomore album, Epiphany, is in stores now.

Wale "Fly Away"

Here is a new track off of Wale's twitter. Lenny Kravitz cover is an interesting choice.

Wale - FLY AWAY by treylord

Wale "Bittersweet" feat. Colin Munroe

If you want new music from Wale, look no further than his twitter page. Yesterday, he let another unreleased track go. This one is called "Bittersweet" featuring Colin Munroe, and samples from the Verve. Attention: Deficit is still scheduled to drop November 3rd. We've been WAITING.

Wale - Bittersweet (f. Colin Munroe) by treylord

Download

Wale "World Tour" feat. Jazmine Sullivan AND "New Soul" ft. Yael Naim

Wale's debut album, Attention: Deficit, now is scheduled to drop on October 20th. Here is the latest track, "World Tour," featuring Jazmine Sullivan and produced by Cool & Dre. You can clearly hear the Tribe influence on the hook.

Wale - World Tour (Feat. Jazmine Sullivan) by treylord

Here is another track off his Back to the Feature Mixtape which I've had on play for a while, but never posted.

Wale on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Having the Roots at your back can't hurt. I'm WALE!

Wale @ 930 Club x UCB x Young Chris

DDotOmen.com - Wale @ 930 Club x UCB x Young Chris from DDotOmen on Vimeo.

Last night

Wale "Family Affair"

ANOTHER Wale video release. Dude is on his grind.

Daily Throwback: Wale "Artistic Integrity"

Aight, before you jump on me about it, this is not exactly an old song. BUT, I'm stoked to go see Wale tonight (I'd put even money on Lady GaGa showing up in something ridiculous) and this song samples from Seinfeld, which is one of my (and Wale's) favorite shows and a definite throwback.

Enjoy

Wale - Chillin (feat. Lady GaGa)

Speaking of Wale, his video was just released an hour ago. Debut album Attention: Deficit coming soon.

TONIGHT: Rock the Vote Nights Present America's Future Now Official Concert featuring WALE with UCB

Show will headline Wale feauturing UCB, with Tabi Bonney, XO, Phil Ade, and Wordsmith. I'll do my first attempt at blogging a live show.

DC chillin'

If you don't know Tabi Bonney, learn him:

Wale "Chillin" featuring Lady GaGa Teaser

DC chillin'
PG chillin'


I'm WALE!

Video looks hot. When is the album coming out Wale Ovechkin?

Seeing him at 930 on Wednesday, June 3rd.

I can't decide whether or not Lady GaGa is hot. Thoughts?

Wale Attention Deficit Tour Video Podcast 1

Wale Ovechkin playing 930 club June 3rd

Wale "Flyer than the rest of 'em" Ovechkin is playing the 930 club on Wednesday June 3rd. I'm gonna be first in line. See this dude before in concert, and he puts on a show. Check out him performing his new single "Chillin'" with Lady Gaga.

Tickets at $85, and will go on sale an hour before the showtime, 10 PM.*


*Disclaimer, not all of that information is true, but I want tickets.

Wale Ovechkin on ESPN’s First Take

Wale on First Take from Elitaste on Vimeo.

Still waiting on that album, Wale Ovechkin.