Wale has always rapped like a man who feels everything a little more intensely than the rest of us . I should know—I was there at New York City’s Roseland Ballroom some 15+ years ago, the night he signed with one of his first-ever booking agents. The paperwork happened behind closed office doors, quick and excited, but the reason for the rush started out front. A then 20-something Wale stepped onstage and blew my own then-20-something mind open in a way only raw, unfiltered talent can .

I turned to my friend—Wale's agent-to-be, who had brought me to the show specifically because he wanted to pick my music brain for feedback before signing. My feedback came in the form of barking orders, manically demanding he immediately "s ign this Wale kid!” He did.

Wale eventually leveled up

See Full Page