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

A couple of new tracks here, while the rest are remixes that I thought were dope or interesting enough to post up on the site. First up is Diddy, okay so by now you’ve probably heard T.I.’s “Swagger Like Us”, well, Diddy took it a step further and did a track called “Swagger Like Puff”. The thing is the brotha comes off hard on this track, opening the track up by saying “Ayo P gimme my gun”. Huh, Diddy, I know you were cleared of gun charges, but not a good look to bring in a line like that. Next is Lady Gaga, all I’ve heard about this girl is that she’s huge in Canada, #1 hit, knocked off Katy Perry’s joint, please don’t judge our country based on the music charts. Anyways she shows love to Canada by enlisting Kardinal Offishall to spice the track up and I have to say I quite like it, definitely can say my homegirl Moore would love this track too. Via Missing Toof are two electro tracks, first being Heartsrevolution with their thumping track “Switchblade” and next is a remix of The Ting Tings “Shut Up and Let Me Go” remixed by LAZRtag, about 20 - 25 seconds into the track I was sold.

Diddy “Swagga Like Puff”

Lady Gaga ft. Kardinal Offishall “Just Dance” (Remix)

Heartsrevolution “Switchblade”

The Ting Tings “Shut Up and Let Me Go” (LAZRtag Remix)

Robin Thicke ft. Mary J Blige & Wale “Magic” (Mark Ronson Remix)

Oh yeah new music from the Jigga man from the rumored Blueprint 3 album, which word has it that Kanye West will be producing the project. Definitely looking forward to that album, especially after hearing this song “Jockin’ Jay-Z” track.

The next song is exactly new but I just heard it today while I was at work listening to Mark Ronson’s Authentic Shit East Village radio show. MGMT’s “Electric Feel” gets remixed by french duo Justice. Definitely give this one a listen as it is just crazy.

Jay-Z “Jockin’ Jay-Z” Produced by Kanye West

MGMT “Electric Feel” (Justice Remix)

One of my favorite designers of today would have to be Charlotte Ronson.  If you’re thinking that her last name sounds familiar, that is because she is the fellow sibling of DJ/music producer Mark Ronson and DJ Samantha Ronson. Born in London but raised in New York, Charlotte always possessed a unique sense of style starting at an early age.

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This may sound like a change of pace from my normal mixtape selection.  But I have featured Eli Escobar when he hijacked Mark Ronson’s Authentic Shit show on East Village Radio.  And as always, the Mark Ronson EVR sessions are a good listen.  My advice is to throw this on after lunch when the food coma kicks in.  It’ll be your aural Red Bull to keep you going for the rest of your day in the office.  Enjoy.

Make the leap for track listing.

Courtesy of East Village Radio

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Coming up next week is the Coachella music festival, which takes place out in Cali between April 25 - 27. AJK has been trying to convince me that we should head down to this, still currently mulling over whether or not I can take the time off work to go down to this. Recently added to the lineup is PRINCE!!! Man there’s no doubt in my mind this is going to be a great festival, so should you be lucky enough to be out in the California area, most definitely you need to check this out. Other acts include, but not limited to: Fatboy Slim, Diplo, Santogold, Cut Copy, Portishead, M.I.A., Mark Ronson, Little Brother, Uffie, Justice, Chromeo, Simian Mobile Disco and Kid Sister with A-Trak to name a few. Visit www.coachella.com for more info.