Wale Finds The Inspiration For His Wrkng Title Hat Collection From Nike And Ronnie Fieg

Last night at the Manon lounge in NYC, Grammy nominated rapper and MMG member Wale gave media and tastemakers an exclusive first look at his Fall 2014 Wrkng Title Hat Collection. Composed of various snapbacks, skull caps, and beanies, the collection reflects the style of Wale and fills a void in the marketplace of headwear with Wale's unique touch on the hats.

We caught up with the D.C. rapper to speak on the creative process of Wrkng Title, his goals with the headwear company and the possible collabs that we might see in the future for his brand.

What sets Wrkng Title apart from other headwear companies?
It's run by a person that you guys f*cking know. [Laughs.] Nah, but at this point I'm going to be completely honest and say there might not be much, but I'm willing to learn and I'm learning from people like Jay Z and Kanye West. I'm learning from the things that they've done or the things that I've heard. Wrkng Title is in the same building as Trapstar, same building as Rocawear, same building as Billionaire Boys Club, so I'm learning all of these things from these people. I come from DC where you could get a beanie at a gas station, we come from skull caps and ski masks, so I'm very familiar with different styles of headwear. My willingness to learn about the fashion business and not try to act like I'm some big Coco Chanel ass m*therfucker like I know everything. My willingness to be open to it and my willingness to have no ego and collaborate with different entities is what makes my company special. I'm working with Nicky Diamonds, I'm doing something with Melissa Forde whose Rihanna's photographer/lifestyle manager. She's already taught me so much about the fashion business, the designs and different textures and the demographic of people that are buying the stuff, so my willingness to learn I think is going to give me endless possibilities.

You mentioned Nicky Diamond from Diamond Supply Co., would that be a collab that we could see with Wrkng Title in the near future?
Absolutely! We're in our first semester of existence with Wrkng Title, but me and Nicky are good friends and he's definitely expressed a desire to get down with us and work with us and Nick is definitely somebody I look up to.

You named the brand Wrkng Title, but spelled it a different way, how come?
You know just to f*ck with y'all little bit.[Laughs.]

I've seen a few tees tonight with the Wrkng Title logo, will there be a clothing line in the future for the brand?
If I do a clothing line it would be something else, but I may do different one-offs with Wrkng Title. I like it to be unorthodox. We might have a t-shirt, and we want people to ask about it, so we may release it to the first hundred people that bought this shirt or that shirt. It's real hands on. If anybody knows me, my style has been very hands on. You know I was one of the first people to give out free mixtapes on the internet and best believe once I completely figure out this fashion world I'm gonna shake this sh*t up a little bit myself.

Sneakers have a big involvement as far as the creation process of the hats, what was that sneaker that inspired you to create the headwear?
There's a lot of early influences in the colorways and a lot in my vision board at my crib, where I put pictures of a lot of my favorite shoes to get ideas for colors. I have the Nike Jedi's, the Grape 8's, the Cement 3's, Foamposites, Mag's, Yeezy's, and just a lot of colorways that Nike has done. Even people like Ronnie Fieg, I admire his work so much and he's given me the inspiration for a lot of colorways that I'm about to release too.

Where can people purchase the headwear?
Downtown Locker Room and online at wrkngtitle.com