New York and Atlanta are home to many talented artists in hip-hop music. Unfortunately for Washington, DC, the city was only known for housing dubbya, the most popular resident on Pennsylvania Avenue, and as Murder Capital during the ’90s for crime rates.

Currently, DC or as locals would say “the DMV” (the metropolitan areas of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia) has earned a respectful place on the map for hip-hop fans, all thanks to a young man by the name of Wale.

Wale Folarin generated quite a buzz from the release of his first mixtape in 2006.  After emerging on to the local hip-hop scene, The Washington Post featured him in an article and dubbed the local artist as “The Great Rap Hope” in 2007.   Within two years of his first mixtape, Wale has been on tour with Mark Ronson, rubbed elbows with heavy weights Kanye, Jay-Z and many others.  He has been featured on cable networks, MTV and BET.  He has appeared in many magazines, including interviews and ads for LRG, Levi’s Denim, and streetwear brand 10 Deep.  Recently, Complex Magazine selected Wale for a special feature in the October 2008 issue.

He remains true to his roots, as many references to the DMV area are made in his music. This may be one of the best narratives to describe the lifestyle on the other side of town. The part of town that is located far away from the glitz and glamour of politics. The city’s go-go inspired music is also infused into Wale’s beats. The mix of go-go’s percussion instruments and Wale’s lyrics created a unique sound that attracted Record Executives.  The talented kid from Maryland joined Interscope earlier this year.

He is currently working on his debut album, which includes prodcuers Mark Ronson and Virginia native Pharrell Williams. The much anticipated album will feature “Nike Boots” as the first single.

In honor of Wale’s hometown, Director Chris Robinson, will be shooting the video during Howard University’s Homecoming this week.

DMV, bring out your Nike boots to the set on October 15th and stay tuned to killahbeez.com for more Wale updates!

Image Source: Wale

New video from Nas for the latest single called “Make The World Go Round” which features The Game and Chris Brown on the track and can be found on his latest untitled album.The video was directed by renowned director, Chris Robinson, while the song was co-produced by Cool & Dre and The Game.

Latest video from Usher for the song “Trading Places”, which is the third single from the album Here I Stand. The video, shot in Venice, California, is directed by Chris Robinson. The song tells a story about a how a couple can switch roles, the woman paying for the date and taking control of everything while the man making up bed and breakfast. “The story is, like, wishful thinking for all men to have a woman who takes control and compliments us the way we compliment them,” Usher explains, adding that he and Robinson “wanted to do something very forward-thinking.”

Also in this video, Usher introduces his new line of lingerie for men and women, which the female model featured in the video is wearing. Currently there is no timeline on when the lingerie line will officially be launched.

Cassie has just recently premiered her latest music video for her lead single “Official Girl”. The track is produced by Danja and features a collaboration with Lil’ Wayne. This is off of the upcoming album tentatively titled Connecticut Fever and has no official release date as of yet. This is another video directed by Chris Robinson, as we just posted the Ne-Yo video “Miss Independent”, which he also directed.

According to Cassie, the song is dedicated to independent-spirited women while the video is aimed at encouraging the ladies to take control of their relationship. Cassie hopes that the song can spread the message of girl power and empower girls to stand up for their romantic relationships.

Second single for Ne-Yo called “Miss Independent” which is off of the upcoming Year of the Gentleman. His second album is scheduled to drop on September 16 with the first single “Closer” being released back in April. The video is directed by Chris Robinson, who has done videos for Usher, Alicia Keys, Busta Rhymes, T.I., Nas and many other artists. The video also co-stars some beautiful women, Keri Hilson, Gabrielle Union and Lauren London.

New video and latest single from Alicia Keys’ called “Superwoman”, which is off of her album As I Am. This latest video was directed by Chris Robinson, whose been in the game for a minute now and has done videos for Nas, Big Pun, T.I., Busta Rhymes as well as a handful of Alicia’s previous videos.

The scene starts with Alicia singing and playing the piano in a dark room. After, the clip moves on and sees the singer playing many different roles as an astronaut, business woman and even pharaoh. The idea of the video is to give a dedication to all the women in the world for their strength and effort.

It’s been said that this is the fourth and final single off of this album. Have a look at the video and tell us what you think. Is it me or does Alicia Keys + Glasses = Soooooo Hot!