It's Official

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.

Good luck to the kid. From the looks of it, it may indeed have been the best situation. Def Jam is a graveyard, and Interscope does grind for their ppl, unless ur name is Pharrell.

Also, coming soon:
The Mixtape About Nothing (March 2008)
Wale x 9th Wonder x LRG Present: THE 10TH WONDER