I get really excited when I hear a new hip hop artist I like. I'm such a backpacker snob when it comes to my hip hop.I can't help it. Hip Hop was the best in the '90s when I was really absorbing the genre and it has never been the same for me since. Sure I like a few artists here and there like Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Shad, Notar and a select few others, but it is too few and far between. I hate to sound old and bitter, but the accessible hip hop these kids now grow up hearing on the radio and BET these days is just dumbed down crap made for ringtone sales.
That being said, I get gem or two emailed to me now and then. The latest find for me this time is a D.C. rapper named Wale, pronounced like "Wall-A". I'm sure he's been around the underground and East Coast scene a while but that doesn't help me hear it down here in Austin. I like Wale's music because it sounds like where he is from. Washington D.C. has long been known for that go-go music influence and I have always loved it. That go-go sound is what made me tolerate that old Beyonce song "Crazy In Love". Combine that with his sick flow, unique voice and dope lyrics and you have Wale.
If you love real hip hop, welcome Wale into your iPod as well. Visit his official website here.
