Wale rose after his 2008 mixtape A Mixtape About Nothing, blending social points, confident lines, Seinfeld-based irony, and big-story songs to connect underground rap and mainstream listeners. Born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin to Nigerian immigrants in Washington, D.C., he left college football for music and had an early hit with 2006’s “Dig Dug (Shake It).” The mixtape led to major-label albums—Attention Deficit (2009), Ambition (2011), The Gifted (2013), The Album About Nothing (2015)—and MMG-era Platinum songs like “Lotus Flower Bomb.” After Folarin II (2019) and a short break, he returned in 2023 with a Def Jam deal, a #1 Nigerian single, and a Kennedy Center headline. With an eighth album coming, he remains one of hip-hop’s most durable writers.