Wale Discusses Upbringing And ‘The Album About Nothing’

With the release of his third album The Gifted just a day away, Wale should be excited. With a great deal of hype and anticipation leading up to Gifted, listeners who were granted an early stream of the LP have been quick to call it his best work yet. Still, in an in-depth feature with his local news outlet The Washington Post, which was published this past Saturday, it's clear that Wale's got a lot on his mind.

In the feature, the DC spitter touches on being a rapper from a city without any notable ones. He remembers, "We had nothing. Nuh-thing. It seemed like having a black president would have been easier than having a rapper from here." In addition to his city's lack of talent, Wale also had a tough time maneuvering DC, a hodgepodge of cultures and social classes. Even when his family moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland, his fancier surroundings didn't prove to be easier to handle. He says, "I didn’t deal well with people making fun of me or trying to get over on me. Being a black, dark, nappy-headed kid when everyone was on the Tommy Hilfiger? I was light on the Tommy. Minimal Tommy!” Needless to say, Wale's come a long way since, and surely has a closet full of Tommy by now.

Wale also continued to tease his collaborative album with comedy icon Jerry Seinfeld, The Album About Nothing, which is already in the works despite The Gifted dropping tomorrow. Seinfeld goes on to say of the project: "The whole thing is hilarious to me. If he can really do this, if he can make this actually work, musically, I think it’s fascinating." For more, read the full Washington Post story here.