Wale

Wale aka The "Ambassador of Rap for the Capital," was born in D.C. in 1984 to Nigerian immigrants. After graduating high school Wale tried college 3 times only to decide to quit and pursue music. Wale got his first airplay in 2003-2004 with "Rhyme of the Century," with the help of a local radio DJ that was a believer in his potential. The airing of that song led to Wale being featured on the "Unsigned Hype" column in Source magazine in 2005. In 2006, Wale signed a deal with a local start-up imprint Studio 43, owned by a former VP of Roc-a-Fella Records, and released the hit "Dig Dug" ( a tribute to Ronald "Dig Dug" Dixon of the go-go band the Northeast Groovers.). Wale really utilized MySpace and the Internet while promoting this song, and it is the internet where British mega-producer and DJ Mark Ronson (Responsible for Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera, Rhymefest) found out about him. Wale then landed a production deal with Allido imprint (Ronson's Label) and released the 100 Miles and Running mixtape that summer. Throughout 2007 and 2008 Wale recieved tons of press, ranging from XXL magazine to The New York Times without being signed to a major. In 2008 Wale also signed a record deal with Interscope, and signed a management contract with "Jay-Z".