Hip-hop artist Wale Folarin (pronounced “wall-ay”) fills Street in on rocking with The Roots and mixtapes about Seinfeld.
Street: What’s it like collaborating with The Roots?
Wale: They are one of my favorite groups of all time. Black Thought has been one of my biggest inspirations so when I got that call, I almost didn’t believe it was real.
Street: Your The Mixtape About Nothing is Seinfeld-inspired. Were you worried about losing some street cred?
W: Not at all. I’m not one of those people that worries about what’s cool, I just do me. Seinfeld is probably my favorite show of all time [and] there’s a whole lot of nothing in the industry right now. I thought a mixtape about nothing would be a great way to address that. I guess it turned out to be about something.
Street: How has being from D.C. influenced your music?
W: Growing up it was go-go music all the time. Until I was about 14, I thought everyone knew go-go music but then I realized it was totally insulated in D.C. Hip-hop music is not the dominant urban genre in D.C.; it’s go-go, so I am kind of in direct competition with that sound locally. I’ve incorporated go-go into my music so maybe that’s why people have given it a chance, but everyday I strive to put D.C. on the map.
Street: Your parents are from Nigeria. Are they into the American hip-hop scene, especially now that you’re a part of it?
W: Not at all. They don’t really fully comprehend what I’m doing, although I think when I was overseas for five months last year they started to get it.
Street: What artists are on your iPod right now?
W: I actually don’t rock an iPod anymore. I just kept losing them. But before I lost it… Camp Lo, Jodeci, State Property, Talking Heads, MGMT, Justice, Coldplay, Jay-Z, Jeezy, TI, Kanye, Roots, Gym Class Heroes, Fort Minor, Enya, Pure Moods Vol. 1… so much stuff.
Street: You’ve been “up and coming” for at least two years now. What do you think will be the sign that you’ve “made it”?
W: A Grammy, a platinum record and a world tour? I hope I’m always up and coming though because that means you are still moving forward and still going up. People think I’ve already made it just because I’ve been on a few magazine covers. And I think for some people, that’s enough. But I want to have a career out of this.
