-Yamaha motif- $2800

-Roland Fantom-$2600-$3700

-Akai mpc- $2500 -$2000

-FL Studio and Reason-$200-$400

-Talent- Priceless

Wale signed with Interscope records



LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – It has just been announced on 93.9 WKYS that DC-area hip hop artist, Wale, has signed with Interscope Records in a joint venture deal with three-time Grammy award winning producer Mark Ronson's Allido Records.

Wale, 23, has seen a tremendous amount of success for an unsigned hip hop artist over the past year, gracing the covers of URB and DNR magazines, doing remixes for Justice, Chris Brown and MIA, performing at the MTV Video Music Awards, song licenses with Nike, ENTOURAGE and MTV and a growing internet buzz surrounding his most recent mixtape 100 MILES AND RUNNING and his upcoming Seinfeld-inspired project, THE MIXTAPE ABOUT NOTHING. Entertainment Weekly recently reported that the mixtape features a skit from Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Wale signed a production deal with DJ-turned-producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Christina Aguilera) in June of 2007 after impressing him on Ronson's European tour. Following an intense, six-month bidding war, Wale signed to a joint venture between Allido Records and Interscope, saying Jimmy Iovine, Luke Wood and the whole Interscope staff understood his vision better than anyone else.

"Look at their track record," said Wale via phone on his way to perform at a Justice concert in DC. "Dre, Eminem, 50, Pharrell, Timbaland, Black Eyed Peas, Soulja Boy…the list goes on."

"This is the best possible situation we could ask for," says Daniel Weisman, Wale's manager. "We waited and kept grinding until someone came with something we felt reflected the work we've put in; Interscope got it."

Mark Ronson will executive produce Wale's untitled debut album and contribute production to the project due out in fall. Other tentative contributors include past Wale-collaborators Osinachi ("Nike Boots") and Best Kept Secret ("Back In The Go Go"), along with Just Blaze, Pharrell, Kanye West, 9th Wonder, Justice and DJ Toomp.


Allido Records is a New York City-based label founded in 2004 by Mark Ronson and former manager, Rich Kleiman. Allido Records has put out releases by Rhymefest and Daniel Merrieather through J Records, and by Mark Ronson through RCA. Wale's album will be the first release through their new joint venture deal with Interscope

'Nothing': Something Special - washingtonpost.com
and
http://voices.washingtonpost...com/postrock/2009/01/live_..last_night_wale.html
 

I'll let Rhymefest explain....

The Official Release of MAN IN THE MIRROR [FREE DOWNLOAD!]

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a blessed and productive new year. Although, I can't promise that some things in 2008 just won't be a muthafuckin' problem. I think y'all know where I'm going with this: MAN IN THE MIRROR and EL CHE.

Thanks to all of the real music enthusiasts who heeded the call for an advance copy of MAN IN THE MIRROR [the Michael Jackson dedication album] in return for your own blog review... good or bad. The Plugg City team has had tremendous success with this online viral promotion, proving that if an artist is serious about his craft, people will listen. However, for those of you who enjoy the MAN IN THE MIRROR album, it wouldn't be right if I didn't share the credit with all of those who took part in its creation:

Mark Ronson (myspace.com/markronson),

Allido Records (myspace.com/allidorecords),

Derek Pacuk [the engineer],

Talib Kweli (myspace.com/talibkweli),

Wale (myspace.com/wale202),

Daniel Merriweather (myspace.com/danielmerriweather),

Dres (myspace.com/blacksheep),

Emile (myspace.com/emilemusic),

BKS [Best Kept Secret] (myspace.com/craigbbeats | myspace.com/bestkeptsecrettone),

alpha. (myspace.com/alphaisforever),

Shadowkat Nightson (myspace.com/nightsons),

and, most of all, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson!

Now, it's time to get to the point. When I decided to name my album EL CHE, it was more than just a marketing attempt to bring back militant rap. It is my name. It is the spirit of change that fills me. I must come into the new year and admit that my severely underrated debut release BLUE COLLAR almost wounded me until I decided that I must fight with a revolutionary zeal for what I believe and know to be true: Hip-Hop needs heroes. Big Daddy Kane. Rakim. KRS-ONE. Public Enemy. Hell, Biz Markie. Hip-Hop needs its heroes. Who will step up and be the great heroes of today? I can't give myself that title; however, I can show you how to bounce back like one. If you slept on BLUE COLLAR, go back and give it another listen. Trust me, you won't regret it. The shit is timeless. If you're already up to speed, please enjoy this: my gift to everyone who loves real music. A link to a free download of MAN IN THE MIRROR, as well as copies of all of my other mixtapes and music you may have missed. Here it is:

RHYMEFESTSTORE.COM 

click on (mixtapes)

 

WHAT DO U THINK OF OUR MUSIC/BEATS???

LEAVE CRITISM.......OF ANY TYPE....(HARSH, CONSTRUCTIVE, LOL JEALOUS, REAL).....DOESNT MATTER....ANY CRITISM WILL BE NOTED.....JUS LEAVE FEEDBACK....

BKS