Wale

HS: DC culture is pretty much a mystery to people outside the area, and even some folks in it. Your pretty successful in striking a balance between a local and a more mainstream approach. Is that difficult for you to achieve?

WALE: I wouldn't say its difficult, because it's just me. At the end of the day, I might be better at striking the balance than some other artists, but that's because I have had experiance with all different cultures.

HS: Speaking of your travel, and connecting a little to Go-Go, any other locally grown music that's caught your attention? Obviously you have some Baltimore club influence on the new mixtape.

WALE: Yeah, Batltimore is just different. DC and Baltimore don't really understand each other. I'm trying to help bridge the divide.

HS: It's never cold in DC, yet cats are always rocking Goadomes (Nike Boots)?

WALE: It can get cold, actually. It's just a way of life. It's our boot. It's just our thing. It started a very long time ago, and just stuck.

HS: With mixtapes, and the nature of downloading, do you still think its a mixtape regardless of platform?

WALE: Oh yeah. It's just evolving to something else. It gets you out there quicker.

HS: I wanted to talk about your relationship with The Hundreds. How did that evolve?

WALE: Those are my people. Bobby and Ben are very influential in streetwear. They're genioses. They know the trends. They know what's going to work, what's not going to work. Everytime I have a Bobby and Ben chill session I'm invigorated. I'm writing like crazy afterwards.

HS: We're you a fan of the brand before meeting them?

WALE: Yeah, definately. I'm not the type of person to like something just because its my friends.

HS: You've worked with 10.Deep now on the mixtape, how did that come about?

WALE: With this one, I asked 10.Deep if they wanted to be a part of it, and they said, yeah. They are such an influential brand, it seemed a good fit.

HS: Do you feel being part of the streetwear community has helped you to build a bigger buzz? To push you outside the DC area?

WALE: I feel that streetwear culture is filled with a lot of people who set the trends. Who set the trends in their respective environments. They are the early adaptors, you know what I mean.