“Ain’t Heard It From Me”
Scram Jones whips up a jazz-rap special, while one of DC’s finest trades rhymes with one of Chicago’s finest. Good to see that Fest’s sense of humor is still intact: “Call me 80G kid, you can fill a whole iPod with me. Yeahhh…” Prepare to be wowed.

Wale – “Whole Time” (Feat. Young Chris)
Young Wale teams up with Young Chris (remember him?) over a hard-hitting joint. Is it just me or is Chris doing his best Hov impression on this track? “Say hello to the bad guy?” More like say hello to the wack guy from State Prop.

I wonder if anyone other than Wale would really want to rock this.
Dope design though.

[Brandon Perkins has details on how you can get one]

• Download – Wale’s The Mixtape About Nothing

Mixtape About Nothing is nothing short of a solid showing from one of the quintessential MCs of the Yeezy generation. Reminds me of when I first heard Lupe’s verse on that one song on Fort Minor’s We Major mixtape that turned me into a believer.

(If that link goes down you can always grab it from 10 Deep)

I’m genuinely delighted to see this kid’s ascension to national prominence:

From HipHopDX:

Wale has signed a joint venture deal with Mark Ronson’s Allido imprint and Interscope Records. The product of Washington D.C. has made his presence known as an unsigned artist and received support from the likes of Just Blaze, Jay-Z and Bun B. According to Miss Info, Ronson will executive produce the forthcoming album and Pharrell, Just Blaze, Kanye West and 9th Wonder are all rumored to make contributions as well. In addition to Wale, Rhymefest, and R&B artist Daniel Merriweather are also under the Allido umbrella.

Depending on your stance on the whole business of major vs indie, this is either good news or very very ugly news. Either way you look at it, you can’t deny that something great is sure to emerge from the Wale/Mark Ronson union.

Now some music…

• Wale feat. Bun B & Pusha T – “Back in the Go Go”

• Wale feat. Lil Wayne & Evidence – “Nike Boots (Remix)”