The Audacity of Dope

While in town for the “Ambition” tour on 11/25/11, Wale stopped by KUBE and the SNSS studio to chat with me for a few moments.  We talked about his Ambition album, years of grinding for success, what it’s like seeing fans quote his lyrics on Facebook & Twitter, and more.  Since he’s always known as one of hip-hop’s most fervent sports fans, we had to talk some football so I asked about his recent debates with Skip Bayless at ESPN, who is the best running back in the NFL, his take on Tebow-mania, and what we should do with the BCS.

If you’d prefer to just listen to the audio, download/streaming links are below:

Wale on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?hdqw9fmweo1trjc
(back up / streaming link – http://hulkshare.com/rosy83wfkyfi)

Ambition is in stores now, cop that.

Here’s Kanye’s performance from one of the inaugural balls last night in DC.  ‘Ye kinda killed it, mullet and all.  This was the same ball that after Barack and Michelle shared the dance, he told the crowd…”we call that ‘old school’.”

Coolest. President. Ever.

The homegirl DJ Heat has been putting in work in DC for a minute, and she just released the third volume of her Mumbo Sauce mixtape series.  For those unaware, mumbo sauce is what they put on fried chicken out there in the other Washington.  While I can’t say I’ve tried it, I have sampled Heat’s mixes before and I recommend y’all check this one out for some of the dopest talent in the DMV area.  It features appearances by people like Wale, RAtheMC, Raheem DeVaughn, Thad Reid, XO, and more. Peep the tracklisting and download link after the jump!

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Last minute WLotD for Wednesday:

“I’m f*ckin’ nuts…cashews/
But I’m so DC, like fat shoes”
–Lil’ Wayne, “About All That”

One of my favorite artists in the industry, SoulStice, came through Sound Session again recently to chop it up. If you missed our interview from last year where we covered a lot of his background (from the Chi, relocated to DC) and previewed his Dead Letter Perfect album, you can download it here. This time around, we talked about the reception that album received, his upcoming Beyond Borders project, the various hip-hop scenes around the world, the presidential race, how he balances his music career with his day job at the Department of Defense, and more.

It’s always fun to talk about substantive issues with real intelligent artists who are passionate about their music and their ideas. Sadly, that’s kind of rare in this industry, so I enjoy it when people like SoulStice come through. You can check out the entire interview, which also includes his “Bird’s Eye View” song with Kev Brown, through either of the links below:

SoulStice on Sound Session – http://www.mediafire.com/?sgslqaughak
(back up / streaming link – http://www.zshare.net/audio/176309330398e9b2/ )

Track down Dead Letter Perfect if you missed it from last year and be on the lookout for Beyond Borders. It’s shaping up to be a great record.

Nima over at DubCNN just posted up a nice interview with one of the biggest rising stars in the game, Wale. Say it with me people, “Wah-Lay.” Since he’s gonna be huge, people might want to learn how to pronounce it. Here’s the description:

We talk about him coming up in D.C., his influences, working with his idol Black Thought of The Roots and how he ended up signing with Jimmy Iovine‘s Interscope Records. He tells us why he’s not worried about Interscope forcing him to switch up his sound, his experiences touring the world with Mark Ronson, and of course his “Mixtape About Nothing“.

We end off the interview with a few words on his upcoming solo album, which by the way is set to feature production from Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Pharrell, Just Blaze, 9th Wonder and the French electronic music duo Justice.

Read the full interview here.