Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Folarin (born September 21, 1984 in Washington… Read Full Bio ↴Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Folarin (born September 21, 1984 in Washington, D.C.), better known by his stage name Wale, is an American rapper and producer. Fusing DC's homegrown go-go genre with a streetwise Northern hip-hop sensibility, he takes samples from all genres and blends them together with lyrical dexterity. In 2005 he released his debut mixtape, Paint a Picture, and has since released four more. His debut album, released by Interscope, Attention Deficit, was released November 10, 2009. He has since then released three more albums, with Rick Ross's MMG label, Ambition (2011), The Gifted (2013), and The Album About Nothing (2015), based on his 2008 mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing.
Wale was born to Nigerian immigrant parents in Washington, DC. He grew up on Peabody Street in Northwest DC and moved to Largo, Maryland as a teenager. He attended seven different high schools in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, finally graduating from Quince Orchard High School in 2001. He went to Robert Morris College and Virginia State University on football scholarships, and then Bowie State University but dropped out in 2004 to pursue music full-time. Before music started paying the bills, Wale worked day jobs at Sprint, Up Against The Wall and Downtown Locker Room.
Wale emerged onto the local DC hip hop scene with the help of WKYS-FM's DJ Alizay. Wale began getting radio play in 2004 with a single called "Rhyme of the Century" which got Wale in the June 2005 "Unsigned Hype" section of Source magazine and his buzz started growing.
In November 2006, a feature ran on AllHipHop.com's Breeding Ground about Wale. The day before Thanksgiving, Wale took the stage between Lil Wayne and T.I. during the Southern Invasion tour at the Verizon Center.
In early December 2006, Wale won the award for "D.C. Metro Breakthrough Artist of the Year" at WKYS' Go-Go Awards. On December 15, The Fader magazine associate editor Nick "Catchdubs" Barat visited Wale for an interview and photo shoot which appeared in the March 2007 issue of The Fader.
Wale has an upcoming promotional campaign with Remy Martin and XXL Magazine. He has also been linked to boutique streetwear brands The Hundreds, 10 Deep and Good Bully, as well as lifestyle brands Stussy and LRG.
In January 2007, Wale released a new single to radio called "Good Girls." Daniel Weisman gave the song to Mark Ronson and on February 23, 2007, Ronson began playing the song on his East Village Radio show. A week later, at Ronson's studio, Wale recorded a freestyle for Ronson and in exchange, Ronson put Wale on an unreleased remix of Lily Allen's "Smile" which appeared on a number of music blogs around the world on March 13th, 2007. In April of 2007, Ronson asked Wale to join him on a UK tour to promote the release of his newest album. In June of 2007, Wale signed to a production deal with Ronson's Allido Records.
On June 24, 2007, Wale's "Ice Cream Girl" with TCB, was featured on the show Entourage, on HBO.
Wale performed "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.", from his 100 Miles mixtape, at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, NV.
Wale was also featured in the October 2007 issues of XXL and Rolling Stone. The Washington Post profiled Wale on the front page of the Sunday Style section in the October 21st, 2007 edition. Wale is featured on the cover of URB Magazine's 150th issue along with French electro group, Justice.
iTunes released "Nike Boots" as a free download on November 13th, 2007 as its "Single of the Week." On Christmas Day 2007, Wale debuted the "Nike Boots Remix" featuring Lil Wayne and Green Lantern on his myspace page. Wale and Lil Wayne played a Nike Boots event called DC Stand Up at Ibiza Nightclub in DC on January 15, 2008 which was sponsored by Nike and Footaction.
In the November 30th, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Wale is featured as one of 8 people to watch in 2008 along with actors Simon Pegg and Rachel McAdams.
On March 12, 2008, Wale announced on 93.9 WKYS that he had signed with Interscope.
On April 29, 2008, the new Roots album entitled Rising Down was released, featuring Wale on the final track. Wale's relationship with the Roots began when Black Thought heard a song recorded as a tribute to himself on Wale's 2007 mixtape 100 Miles & Running and contacted Wale.
In the June issue of the German Hip-Hop magazine JUICE Wale announced that his upcoming debut-album will feature production credits from Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Just Blaze, 9th Wonder and the French electronic music duo Justice.
http://www.myspace.com/wale202
Wale was born to Nigerian immigrant parents in Washington, DC. He grew up on Peabody Street in Northwest DC and moved to Largo, Maryland as a teenager. He attended seven different high schools in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, finally graduating from Quince Orchard High School in 2001. He went to Robert Morris College and Virginia State University on football scholarships, and then Bowie State University but dropped out in 2004 to pursue music full-time. Before music started paying the bills, Wale worked day jobs at Sprint, Up Against The Wall and Downtown Locker Room.
Wale emerged onto the local DC hip hop scene with the help of WKYS-FM's DJ Alizay. Wale began getting radio play in 2004 with a single called "Rhyme of the Century" which got Wale in the June 2005 "Unsigned Hype" section of Source magazine and his buzz started growing.
In November 2006, a feature ran on AllHipHop.com's Breeding Ground about Wale. The day before Thanksgiving, Wale took the stage between Lil Wayne and T.I. during the Southern Invasion tour at the Verizon Center.
In early December 2006, Wale won the award for "D.C. Metro Breakthrough Artist of the Year" at WKYS' Go-Go Awards. On December 15, The Fader magazine associate editor Nick "Catchdubs" Barat visited Wale for an interview and photo shoot which appeared in the March 2007 issue of The Fader.
Wale has an upcoming promotional campaign with Remy Martin and XXL Magazine. He has also been linked to boutique streetwear brands The Hundreds, 10 Deep and Good Bully, as well as lifestyle brands Stussy and LRG.
In January 2007, Wale released a new single to radio called "Good Girls." Daniel Weisman gave the song to Mark Ronson and on February 23, 2007, Ronson began playing the song on his East Village Radio show. A week later, at Ronson's studio, Wale recorded a freestyle for Ronson and in exchange, Ronson put Wale on an unreleased remix of Lily Allen's "Smile" which appeared on a number of music blogs around the world on March 13th, 2007. In April of 2007, Ronson asked Wale to join him on a UK tour to promote the release of his newest album. In June of 2007, Wale signed to a production deal with Ronson's Allido Records.
On June 24, 2007, Wale's "Ice Cream Girl" with TCB, was featured on the show Entourage, on HBO.
Wale performed "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.", from his 100 Miles mixtape, at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, NV.
Wale was also featured in the October 2007 issues of XXL and Rolling Stone. The Washington Post profiled Wale on the front page of the Sunday Style section in the October 21st, 2007 edition. Wale is featured on the cover of URB Magazine's 150th issue along with French electro group, Justice.
iTunes released "Nike Boots" as a free download on November 13th, 2007 as its "Single of the Week." On Christmas Day 2007, Wale debuted the "Nike Boots Remix" featuring Lil Wayne and Green Lantern on his myspace page. Wale and Lil Wayne played a Nike Boots event called DC Stand Up at Ibiza Nightclub in DC on January 15, 2008 which was sponsored by Nike and Footaction.
In the November 30th, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Wale is featured as one of 8 people to watch in 2008 along with actors Simon Pegg and Rachel McAdams.
On March 12, 2008, Wale announced on 93.9 WKYS that he had signed with Interscope.
On April 29, 2008, the new Roots album entitled Rising Down was released, featuring Wale on the final track. Wale's relationship with the Roots began when Black Thought heard a song recorded as a tribute to himself on Wale's 2007 mixtape 100 Miles & Running and contacted Wale.
In the June issue of the German Hip-Hop magazine JUICE Wale announced that his upcoming debut-album will feature production credits from Mark Ronson, Kanye West, Just Blaze, 9th Wonder and the French electronic music duo Justice.
http://www.myspace.com/wale202
Thank You
Wale Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Ay, Ay, please raise your glass your for the uh, the whole D.C, um, metropolitan area. My name iAnnotates Wale and I do this rappin thang. Sometimes, well, and sometimes its.great
Please hold your applause
Hold the door for girls
Roll trees for the boys
Best believe this is the boy
They fiend in the door
Nothin sweet when I attend, see
Im seated by the floor
Im courtside, Wizard game
Courtside, Thunder game
Sittin so close
Flip ask Is you gon play?
But I dont never play
Kick game, one of eight
Twelve girls fall in love, but really only one of eight
Use to wear a ton of Bape
Now its only moderate
All dem niggas gonna hate
Im washin off another plate
Yes, Im gluttonous. D.C. up in this
Now they fallin off like Nutso on Above The Rim
Wale, you must know Im on my stuntin shit
Throwin round wallets like the dude that Kid Cudi hit
I be on some other shit
The youngest of my mother kids
Ill prolly hate myself before I ever loved one of dem
Yall can't deny it, Im a fuckin ryder
They made it on the tour. I can spend it on my rider
How you niggas pimpin if you spendin on vagina
Metaphors, similes.Im hungry as Somali
Shoutout to Montana, I ain't talkin bout some Mileys
Whip, plane, motions own
Truthfully, some eye at least
Material possessions dont define me, Im idolatry
Ridin with some dimes thats beside me, they like me
Ridin smokin dimes like Im blinded just slightly
Marijuana medical, smokin on the edible
Nigga, so high, I gotta modify my schedule
Layed back, high as hell. Eyes under wire cell
Attention Deficit was such a claim, see how I excel?
Loud pack, I propel. Burgandy, out to kill
Dont worry bout a nigga dro. Know a nigga fly as hell
Burberry, quite a hell
Might as well, mix it up. Im a fashion whore
And by the looks, see I dont give a fuck.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Please hold your opins
Please give me back my scrotums
Lola want some grandkids
I dubale to my elders, then, now they look at me like Nigerias Elvis
They dubaleing to me. Bawo ni to my ladies
Adabo to my haters
G-Shock when Im playin
O damo when Im fakin
Ore voir to the doubters, and a punt is every challenge
Now Im gettin more rings than Bill Russel in an Audi
And, Im really high, really really high
To get inside my mind, itll be really ill advised
Kill em all, fuck em all. Hip-hop really is alive
Look at Joey, look at Royce, Joe Allen, Crooked I. Look at Wayne, Lupe
Look at Drake, look at me. Marshall, Black Thought, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Raekwon, Jadakiss, and The Clipse
Bun-B. Send a prayer up to heaven, Mr. Chris Henry
Hold it.now thank you for silence
Lets appreciate all the beauty in this life
Cause one minute you are risin, next minute you declinin
If a bitch lyin (lion), then you could be a Tiger
Woods Im smokin out, rellows Im smokin out
Every bad bitch in the ghetto gonna know about us
Catch feelings of a pussy, thats rarely homey
I leave the cap before the ring, Brian Kelly on em
And she ain't bout get no ring, Jim Kelly homey
And she ain't bout to change her name, Bison Dele, no
And Im really gone, and Im forever flowin
So let me leave the studio before the storm go in
Thank you, thank you, yall are far too kind. If yall ain't heard this shit I recommend you rewind
Please hold your applause
Hold the door for girls
Roll trees for the boys
Best believe this is the boy
They fiend in the door
Nothin sweet when I attend, see
Im courtside, Wizard game
Courtside, Thunder game
Sittin so close
Flip ask Is you gon play?
But I dont never play
Kick game, one of eight
Twelve girls fall in love, but really only one of eight
Use to wear a ton of Bape
Now its only moderate
All dem niggas gonna hate
Im washin off another plate
Yes, Im gluttonous. D.C. up in this
Now they fallin off like Nutso on Above The Rim
Wale, you must know Im on my stuntin shit
Throwin round wallets like the dude that Kid Cudi hit
I be on some other shit
The youngest of my mother kids
Ill prolly hate myself before I ever loved one of dem
Yall can't deny it, Im a fuckin ryder
They made it on the tour. I can spend it on my rider
How you niggas pimpin if you spendin on vagina
Metaphors, similes.Im hungry as Somali
Shoutout to Montana, I ain't talkin bout some Mileys
Whip, plane, motions own
Truthfully, some eye at least
Material possessions dont define me, Im idolatry
Ridin with some dimes thats beside me, they like me
Ridin smokin dimes like Im blinded just slightly
Marijuana medical, smokin on the edible
Nigga, so high, I gotta modify my schedule
Layed back, high as hell. Eyes under wire cell
Attention Deficit was such a claim, see how I excel?
Loud pack, I propel. Burgandy, out to kill
Dont worry bout a nigga dro. Know a nigga fly as hell
Burberry, quite a hell
Might as well, mix it up. Im a fashion whore
And by the looks, see I dont give a fuck.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Please hold your opins
Please give me back my scrotums
Lola want some grandkids
I dubale to my elders, then, now they look at me like Nigerias Elvis
They dubaleing to me. Bawo ni to my ladies
Adabo to my haters
G-Shock when Im playin
O damo when Im fakin
Ore voir to the doubters, and a punt is every challenge
Now Im gettin more rings than Bill Russel in an Audi
And, Im really high, really really high
To get inside my mind, itll be really ill advised
Kill em all, fuck em all. Hip-hop really is alive
Look at Joey, look at Royce, Joe Allen, Crooked I. Look at Wayne, Lupe
Look at Drake, look at me. Marshall, Black Thought, J. Cole, Jay-Z, Raekwon, Jadakiss, and The Clipse
Bun-B. Send a prayer up to heaven, Mr. Chris Henry
Hold it.now thank you for silence
Lets appreciate all the beauty in this life
Cause one minute you are risin, next minute you declinin
If a bitch lyin (lion), then you could be a Tiger
Woods Im smokin out, rellows Im smokin out
Every bad bitch in the ghetto gonna know about us
Catch feelings of a pussy, thats rarely homey
I leave the cap before the ring, Brian Kelly on em
And she ain't bout get no ring, Jim Kelly homey
And she ain't bout to change her name, Bison Dele, no
And Im really gone, and Im forever flowin
So let me leave the studio before the storm go in
Thank you, thank you, yall are far too kind. If yall ain't heard this shit I recommend you rewind
The song "Thank You" by Wale is a celebration of his success and his appreciation of his hometown, Washington D.C. He starts off by acknowledging his status as a rapper and the different responses he gets from people. He then proceeds to boast about his material possessions but also claims that they do not define him. Instead, he believes that he is bigger than that and is grateful for the successes he has achieved.
The second verse has Wale saluting different artists in the hip-hop industry, giving them recognition for being a part of what keeps the genre alive. He then reminds the listener to appreciate the beauty in their lives, as things can change very quickly, and to not let negativity drag them down.
Overall, the message of the song is that of gratitude and appreciation for the things that Wale has accomplished, and the people who have supported him along the way.
Writer(s): OLUBOWALE VICTOR AKINTIMEHIN, RAYSHON LAMONT COBBS, BRYAN SLEDGE, MARCELLO VALENZANO, ANDRE CHRISTOPHER LYON, LARRY MIZELL
Contributed by Ruby Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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