Wale

Born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin on September 21, 1984, the rapper is better known to the world as Wale, a shortened version of his legal first name. He is a native of Washington, D.C., born to Nigerian parents who came to the States in 1979. In the mid-2000s, inspired by his interest in music, Wale recorded and released the song “Rhyme of the Century”, which received air time on the local radio station. Shortly after, he was signed to the Studio 43 label in 2006, and after being one of the more requested artists on the local radio, he released his singles “Breadown”, followed by “Uptown Roamers”. The former single got him an award for “D.C. Metro Breakthrough Artist of the Year” in 2006 at the Go-Go Awards, hosted by WKYS. He would release a total of four mixtapes by 2008, the same year he signed with Allido Records and Interscope.

Wale finally released his debut album in 2009, entitled Attention Deficit, which went to #21 on the Billboard 200 list and sold just under 30,000 copies the first week. The album featured guest vocals by Lady Gaga, Gucci Mane, Pharrell, K’Naan, and J. Cole. Wale would go on to release Ambition, featuring the very popular single “Lotus Flower Bomb”, followed by The Gifted in 2013 and The Album About Nothing in 2014.