Few rap artists have been as versatile for as long as Wale. Since unloading his breakout project, 2008’s A Mixtape About Nothing, the DC rhymer has helped permanently collapse the worlds of backpack rap and the Billboard Hot 100, packaging spurts of striking social commentary with braggadocious bars, Seinfeld-indebted irony, and anthemic tales of romance and aspiration. In the process, he earned Platinum and Gold plaques while establishing himself as the one of most accomplished MCs the DMV’s ever produced. And he’s still pushing forward with his newest album, Folarin II, a sequel to 2012’s fan-favorite mixtape Folarin. With its kaleidoscopic blend of fly-guy theme songs, infectious R&B collaborations, and genuine soul-searching, the record reaffirms his status as one of rap’s most innovative, exciting, and enduring curators.

Before he had a legacy to contemplate, Wale was born and raised Olubowale Victor Akintimehin to Nigerian immigrant parents in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Quince Orchard High School in 2002, he attended Robert Morris University and Virginia State University on football scholarships before transferring to Bowie State University. Soon enough, though, he dropped out to pursue a rap career, with “Dig Dug (Shake It)”—a playfully confident introductory tune inspired by his hometown’s go-go movement—becoming his first local hit immediately upon its release in 2006. That same year, he was featured in The Source’s Unsigned Hype Column.

After a trio of mixtapes—Paint a Picture, Hate Is the New Love, 100 Miles & Running—Wale consummated his rise with 2008’s A Mixtape About Nothing, a project inspired by his favorite TV series, Seinfeld. For that project, the then-ascendant rhymer spit over go-go-inspired beats as he tackled subjects like fashion, the rap game, everyday racism, and domestic abuse with his now-signature blend of nuance, critical thought, and machismo. In an era where rap subgenres were debated and more obviously stratified, Wale's style was disruptively inclusive. Naturally, compromising his subject matter was never an option. “My goal was just to be successful and stay true to what I want to do,” he says. Wale has made good on that for a decade and a half.

By the time he released his major-label debut album, 2009’s Attention Deficit, Wale was named a member of XXL’s prestigious Freshman Class, and his status as one of hip-hop’s premier rising artists had crystallized. In the intervening years, he transitioned from a promising up-and-comer to a venerable rap star. After aligning with Rick Ross and Maybach Music Group in 2011, Wale released Ambition, a sophomore LP coated in reflective rhymes and bars meant to inspire. It also includes the glittering ballad, “Lotus Flower Bomb,” a track that’s since been certified Platinum. Between 2012 and 2020, he continued fortifying his catalog with albums like The Gifted (2013), The Album About Nothing (2015), Shine (2017), and Wow...That’s Crazy (2019). During this period, he collected a Platinum plaque for “My P.Y.T.”; Gold for Ambition and The Gifted, and his Rick Ross and Jeremih-assisted single “That Way;” and more accolades. His last album, Folarin II (2019), spawned hits like “Poke It Out” with J Cole before he left Warner Records and took some time away from music.

He re-emerged in 2023 with a new deal at Def Jam, a feature on Odumodublvck’s “Blood On The Dance Floor” which went #1 in Nigeria for 8 weeks, a headline show at the Kennedy Center in DC for the first time to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of his album The Gifted, and his first Diamond record for the legendary Waka Flocka collaboration “No Hands". In 2024, he’s been putting the finishing touches on his 8th album, and readying fans old and new for his next chapter as one of hip hop’s greatest writers.