Non-stop interviews, touring and countless collaborations are enough to make even the most seasoned artist tired, yet at the age of twenty-four, Wale is managing it all quite nicely. Before a studio album has even dropped, Wale has positioned himself amongst the best in the biz, being named one of XXL magazines 10 “Freshman” of hip-hop and earning the respect of some of the genre’s greatest. This summer, Wale’s debut album, Attention: Deficit, will be released for the worlds listening pleasure. With his tour of the same name, featuring UCB and Colin Munroe, blazing across the country, a weary Wale managed to take a little time out to talk to Arize about inspirations, obsessions and musical discrimination.

Wale was born in Washington D.C., where he was bred to be a football player. Thank goodness he changed his mind. “Sports…sports video games, sports television. I actually play sports,” Wale says, revealing one of the other passions he has. From the days of tossing the pigskin to today where he finds himself living the nomadic existence that is touring, a bridge has been built to allow Wale to stay true to his early love of sports while reveling in his skyrocketing fame.

BET won’t play certain artists, MTV won’t play certain artists at certain times ya know, so I think the artist is a reflection of that

It doesn’t take much to notice that Wale has another passion: sneakers. One listen of a single mixtape and you can hear multiple references to kicks, sneaker culture and simply being fresh. Are there favorites? “Foam Posit Max’s. I got ‘em in Japan and I lost them when I moved and I can’t find them anymore.” Although he may have lost those, Wale has managed to mend his broken heart with all of the free swag that is tossed his way. “The best part of my job? Getting stuff for free,” Wale says, “There’s a lot of companies. There are certain things that people care about my opinion about. Like someone will ask if I like these shoes or not.”

While Wale is becoming a bigger name in hip-hop by the minute, pressure mounts as the release of Attention: Deficit inches closer. Although the first single, “Chillin,” features radio-ready newcomer Lady Gaga, Wale is aware of the impact that certain media outlets have on a given audience. “BET won’t play certain artists, MTV won’t play certain artists at certain times ya know, so I think the artist is a reflection of that,” he says. Despite the potential setbacks of this nature, Wale is optimistic that, ultimately, the Internet will have the final say. “The Internet doesn’t know demographic. The Internet doesn’t cater to anyone. With Google, you can put in anything and see what you wanna see,” Wale says triumphantly.

And with Wale already making waves in the hip-hop world, there’s no doubt that he’ll make a full-blown tsunami in the coming months. Though hectic and often times tiring, Wale swears that this is what he wants. “I’m pretty much happy with everything I’ve got going,” he says, “I’m excited about everything right now. There’s nothing that I regret.” Unfortunately, regret is something that comes with time. Let’s all cross our fingers that it’s not something that Wale feels the weight of just yet.