Pyroradio.com recently caught up with Wale while he was in the UK, for those that don’t know Wale is a 24-year old rapper who rides for the "DMV" - DC, Maryland and Virginia - and who in turn enjoys support from the likes of Jay-Z, Mark Ronson, Pharrell, The Roots, Bun B, and The Clipse.

Wale`s viral contagiousness spread beyond the DMV with a series of mixtapes released in the last three years Back To The Feature (2009), Mixtape About Nothing (2008) and 100 Miles and Running (2007). He also appeared on The Roots` single "Rising Up" from their Rising Down album, and a remix of Lily Allen`s bubbly pop record, "Smile," which reverberated through the blogosphere and international venues.

That remix was the brainchild of producer and artist Mark Ronson, who`s responsible for the new pop/soul sound of luminaries like Amy Winehouse. Ronson was so taken with Wale`s posture - part street-reared ruggedness, part introspect and wit - that he signed him to his label, Allido Records, and later to a joint venture with Interscope, through which Wale`s debut album drops in 2009.

Pyroradio.com: How’s life keeping

Wale: I’m good man just working, lots of work!

Wale: That’s the new leak, that’s the power of the internet right there, I only leaked it two days ago, I wanted to do something to pay homage to my background and have fun with it, the Bunny Mack original is a classic

Wale: Yeah man, that’s what Hip Hop is, being proud of who you are and where you come from, DC and Africa is what I got you know.

Wale: October 20^th man I’m twiddling my thumbs, I’m ready, I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m anxious, I’m happy, I’m all of these things. We’re gonna see what happens. The album is designed for real people, if you wanna hear some fake sh*t you better listen to one of these other cd’s that’s coming out (laughs). This is a non fiction movie

Wale: I’m gonna be popping up everywhere around the world, just keeping it interesting, I just put the My Sweetie track out yesterday, it’s an intense part of my life at the moment you know, nobody said it was gonna be easy but it is what it is, we’re just gonna be working and trying to connect with the people.

Wale: Not really you know, we recorded something like 20 odd tracks, just narrowing it down to 13, 14 tracks was real difficult, I felt like a was losing a limb.

Wale: Its just my observation of the world and what I see in the world, I take a lot of mental notes about things I see and I just try to convey that in my music.

Wale: I just want them to understand my story, to understand my life. I want them to feel that I’m an artist who isn’t trying to impress them just with the things I have, more so I want them to feel like I got them, I understand, the listener may not have the microphone but I do so I’m gonna try and tell their story

Wale: Yeah definitely, all of them are different so it’s hard but mainly the producers who are on my album, if I didn’t have a certain vibe with them I wouldn’t work with them, I worked with loads of producers on this album, the producers on the album are the ones who helped me convey it more, I’m not saying their more or less talented than the other producers I worked with. The raw emotion is what I was trying to bottle up in every session.

Wale: The main thing I’ve learnt is that the world is bigger than America, music is more powerful in other country’s than it is in the States, it’s so cheap and microwavable in the states, it’s rich especially in Europe, the love for Hip Hop in Europe is still there, in the States it’s dying a little for whatever reason

Wale: Just to connect with the fans and spread the word, hopefully I can be an artist people can look forward to watching me grow as an artist.

Wale: Right now it’s the Chillin record and the album, that’s all I got, that’s what I wanna concentrate on. Mentally I’m on my second album, but physically we working on the first one to create awareness, I’m not really famous or anything so I wanna build the notoriety for the album before the album drops.

Wale: We got Pretty Girls and World Tour( ft. Jazmine Sullivan & Q-Tip), we’ve got a couple you know, I just like having a lot of material out there.

Wale: That’s not true I heard that, it’s the first single, the internet is crazy.

Wale: I’ve stopped checking them you know, because you’ll always see something that will make you mad, I just talk to my fans on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/wale ) and keep it moving

Wale: Wale: I’m scared, I’m scared, hopefully we’ll come out on top. We’ve definitely got some work to do though

Wale: Shout out the world man, London for holding me down, they were rocking with me early early! Chillin is out there. I’m trying to represetn the people, the African massive, Jamaicans everyone. If you wanna hear reality music and you liked the golden era of Hip Hop check me out!

Chillin feat Lady Gaga is out now

Attention Deficit album is out October 20th

^{Words : Matthew Power}