The Making Of Wale's "Chillin"

The Capitol’s rap rep talks about how his debut single came to be

Wale is determined to get your attention. And he isn’t going to pull his Go-Go tricks to get it (just yet). With production by Cool and Dre, an odd sample from Steam’s 1969 hit “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye,” and a hook from pop sensation Lady GaGa, the Washington, D.C., native has a shot at making the jump from local phenom to superstar, thanks to his Euro-hop lead single, “Chillin’.” VIBE hit Wale, who’s currently prepping the release of his debut album, Attention Deficit (Allido/Interscope), his manager, Daniel Weisman, and Lady GaGa to find out how the potential smash came to be.

VIBE: What can you tell us about the beat that Cool and Dre got you?

Wale: We’d been working on a lot of songs. We did “World Tour” and a record called, “I Ain’t Got No Love,” which was originally my ode to Sarah Palin, McCain, women, and gold diggers. We did those two records, and then it was like, all right, we need something that’s a little more “single-y.” You gotta have a record that gains a lot of attention, for whatever reason, to present your album. I needed something to sound really like a single, something that people would listen to when they’re out partying or whatever, so [Cool] played me a couple of joints [and when] he played that one, I was like, “This is the one.” I got inspired really quick, and I started writing to it.

When did you know that this was the one that you were going to use to introduce yourself to the world?

W: People had to convince me because I wanted to do a record that kind of tells a story as far as when the video comes out. Originally the lyrics were real complex. People that follow me know that sometimes I like to have lyrics go over their head just for some playback so people can be like, Oh. What did he say? But it’s kind of evident we need to have some fun, the weather is about to break, so I kind of had an epiphany one day like, They right. We gotta do a record that I can come out the gates with because the album is full of stories and [deeper] subject matter.

The Prince Georges County reference might throw people for a loop. Why’d you shout out such an unknown area in the hook?

W: Montgomery County has too many syllables [laughs]. I’m spread between Montgomery, D.C., and Prince Georges, so it’s an ode to home. A lot of people think, Oh, Wale is just for D.C. No, man, it’s bigger than that because D.C. just rolls off the tip of your tongue a little better sometimes. I have the same love for Montgomery County, Northern Virginia, and D.C.

Daniel Weisman: When I hear something from an artist, whether it’s a new artist or an old artist, if they talk about something in the song, I’ll go and do my research to see what it is. It’s just like people know what Bankhead is. OutKast talked about Bankhead before T.I., but it wasn’t until T.I. really made it a thing that people now know Bankhead is an area in Atlanta. I think D.C. has the potential to be another Atlanta.

You premiered the record on WKYS [93.9 FM] in D.C. Why?

W: I was actually with Jay-Z the day before [the premiere]. One of my managers was like, “Yeah we should take it to [Hot 97 WQHT 97.1] on Friday.” I was like, “Nah man, I gotta go home to do this.” We looked at Jay and he was like, “He’s right. You got to bring it to D.C. You gotta hit D.C. first, that’s home.” I might be a bit ambitious, but I’m really trying to get WPGC [95.5] and WKYS [93.9], like I’m trying to bring them with me. I want people to look at them like how people look at Hot 97. That’s how I want it.


Why Lady GaGa?

W: She’s a lot like me in a way. She’s eccentric and I’m like that in a sense. She’s the girl that I would call, like, All right, bring all your homegirls to this party. We need to get it jumping. We gotta get the party on the album, the celebration that is Attention Deficit, we gotta get it started.

D.W.: I was the first person actually to suggest GaGa. This was probably in September of last year. I was just going on the Interscope Web site through the whole artist list just to see who we can get on the track to make sense. Nelly Furtado was on the list. Gwen Stefani was on the list. Gwen was probably not going to happen and then I was like, “What about GaGa?” Nobody really heard about her yet because she was really starting to push “Just Dance” in Canada. I checked out one of her videos. She had this whole look and this whole thing going on that I [thought] would go well with Wale being a tastemaker, and being on the cutting edge of everything that he does. We had thrown around some other names and those were not really jiving with what we were trying to do. And then GaGa blew up and we went back and re-discussed it and surprisingly enough, she was down. But I think GaGa nailed it, and it’s the timing. I’m not really a believer in conventional wisdom, but, especially in art, I don’t think that A+B=C. But as far as GaGa and what she’s doing right now, that’s the closest thing you can get to a no-brainer.


Lady Gaga: Mark Ronson phoned me while I was on tour about Wale. He wanted me to feature and write the hook for “Chillin’.” When I heard the track, I knew it was something I’d be into. Wale and I worked on it together, and I recorded it in London with Mark. Wale not only has talent, but his integrity to his roots is enviable. “Chillin’” is a smash, and I'm excited to see Wale make waves in hip hop.

How much of the Go-Go sound do you think is inside “Chillin’"?

W: I mean, not much, because this album is not the preservation of Go-Go music. I kind of did it on Mixtape About Nothing. My next project after this album will be a lot more Go-Go driven. I just want it to be a little more creative and less obvious with this.