Wale has never shied away from representing his city. In fact, it is what has cemented his place not only in hip-hop but also as a trailblazer.
An essential voice in rap and from the area known as the DMV — or D.C., Maryland and (northern) Virginia — Wale has spent nearly two decades topping the charts, becoming the voice of a generation and never losing sight of where he came from along the way.
Leading up to the release of his highly anticipated eighth studio album, Everything Is a Lot, Wale has entered a vulnerable new era that highlights his journey through navigating fame, fatherhood and mental health.
Home is always where the heart is
Wale has been a mainstay in hip-hop for over 15 years, with no plans of letting up anytime soon. Aside from his remarkable talent and love for the craft, his ability to pivot or shift gears has brought fans to his latest moment.
It’s almost like every aspect of his latest moves is a real-time love letter to his DMV roots, even down to his current management team, which includes fellow DMV natives and EQT founders Henny Yegezu and Kazz Laidlaw.
In their February 2026 Spotify Frequency campaign, the trio alluded to what the next chapter holds. Spoiler alert: It has home at the forefront.
“Representing the DMV has always been a part of my identity,” said Wale. “But I wanted to do more and create spaces that celebrate our culture. That’s why I care about uplifting the community. Kazz and Henny have been a big part of moving these ideas forward. Having a team that also cares about repping our hometown and investing in local talent means a lot.
He added, “There’s so much talent in the DMV. There always has been. That’s the real legacy to me. Not just saying where you’re from, but making sure where you’re from keeps growing.”
It isn’t always the case that an artist and manager have a shared connection to the place they deem home. However, for this team, it has made the “why” that much more impactful.
“That’s actually what made the relationship and the purpose that much deeper when we picked him up, and I think it goes without saying, we haven’t been with Wale [for our] whole career,” EQT CEO and co-founder Henny Yegezu told Blavity. “I’ve personally known him for about 7 or 8 years. I don’t know if you remember when he was on GoldLink’s album, At What Cost, he was one of our former clients, and he had that verse on the song called ‘Summertime,’ and we dealt with him back then a little bit directly on it, so he knew of us, and to his credit, he always respected us and just loved what we were doing, especially when ‘Crew’ broke out in that big moment. It was like the DMV’s, we joked, the DMV’s national anthem or whatever.”
“When we decided to all go into business together, coming up on three years ago now, that was a big piece of it. It was our respect for back home and us wanting to guide his current status, but also his legacy in the right direction.”
The move was personal for Yegezu and Laidlaw’s EQT imprint, as they’ve historically been more about artist development, starting with musicians like GoldLink, Masego and Smino from day one.
On longevity and a refreshed perspective
With Wale already having longevity under his belt, the approach to their partnership — much like their ties and love for the DMV — was a very unique one, and it has been treated as such.
“I think people underestimate how hard longevity is in this industry,” said Wale. “You deal with pressure, opinions, algorithms, narratives, all that. It’s easy to get disconnected from why you started. But right now it feels like I’m back in that curious space again. Like when you first start rapping, and you’re just excited to create. Having a team that truly understands my vision and where I come from helped me put out my most honest album yet. Longevity for me is about staying authentic to myself.”
Laidlaw added to that notion, speaking to the intentionality around reshaping the narrative around Wale’s legacy at this stage in his career.
“Wale has been around for a while, right? And I think it also speaks to his longevity and quality of his music,” said Laidlaw. “He’s a really musical person. That has been influenced by him being from the DMV and growing up in Go-Go’s since he was a teenager, and I always joke about, like, you know, growing up in that environment as a musician, you can go perform and work with anybody, anywhere, or you don’t really get stage fright, because there’s probably nothing more difficult than going in front of hundreds of people who are from D.C., and you’re in a band of 12 people. You’ve got to manage your ego, you’ve got to manage your performance, and everything’s live, so you’ve got to really bring it when you are performing.”
“I think, being rooted in that, fundamentally from like 2005, 2006, and now, we’re in 2026, so he’s actually had almost 20 years in, you know, like, in music. I think it’s always that curiosity of ‘How can I innovate? How can I make something new? How can I tell or refresh a story?’ And maybe it’s not always about telling new stories, but refreshing old ones,” he continued. “And I think that’s been — I wouldn’t say key to everything we’re doing — but it’s been a big part of it, because there’s so much that people just don’t know, even though he’s told them a bunch of times before, and he’s never been afraid to appreciate this new generation of artists. On the album, we had majority artists he’s never worked with before and didn’t know before we started working on this album, between Odeal, Leon Thomas, Shaboozey, obviously, we’ve known him for a while, he’s from the DMV, but this is their first collaboration.”
What the future of Wale’s journey with EQT looks like
Wale’s Everything Is a Lot…The Tour with Smino kicks off in San Francisco, California, on May 26 and concludes in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on July 2. However, Wale has announced a special two-day “Live in the District D.C. Concert Series” in the midst of being on the road.
Along with Smino, legendary Go-Go band UCB and Wale’s fellow DMV natives Alex Vaughn and Foggieraw will perform at Plaza Stage at Nationals Park, marking the “Lotus Flower Bomb” emcee’s largest hometown live property to date.
A monumental moment for the District, this will be the first time that the original members of UCB will play together in 14 years. The band will also celebrate 20 years of their international classic “Sexy Ladies.”
The hometown hero run doesn’t end here
In 2024, Wale and EQT launched Gifted Week, a weeklong event series honoring DMV community and culture, and the team is currently developing a crime series titled Silk, which focuses on the notorious 1990s Washington, D.C., hitman Wayne “Silk” Perry.
“The DMV is at the heart of everything I do,” said Wale. “It’s a unique mix, with influence from politics in D.C., the culture in Maryland and the nature of Virginia. I’m proud of where I’m from and want to show people the rich culture that comes from it.”
The post Wale And EQT’s Henny Yegezu And Kazz Laidlaw On Pushing DMV Culture To The Forefront Of Hip-Hop appeared first on Blavity.
