Who knew the daily minutiae in "Seinfeld" could inspire a rap album? Well, it did. In fact, the show known for its focus on life's petty injustices inspired D.C. rapper Wale to produce two mixtapes: "The Mixtape About Nothing" and "More About Nothing."
"It's crazy. I get a middle-aged Jewish guy having a conversation with a short, fat, white guy and it makes this kid's mind go crazy," Wale explained to NBCNewYork.com before his show at the Highline Ballroom in August.
"More About Nothing" is Wale's sixth mixtape.
"I spent a lot of money in the past three months on creating this impact," he said. "I've spent hours and hours in the studio tightening up one verse just to make it the way I want it to sound, but it's about the impact for a free mixtape."
By circumventing the mainstream media, Wale and his team used social networks (Twitter, blogs) to create buzz. He paired up with Rapradar.com to premiere "More About Nothing." He did a series of interviews previewing snippets of songs with the website. "Ambitious Girls" leaked and spread quickly in the blogosphere. Wale also tweeted and ustreamed -- often -- about the mixtape prior to its release.
"Radio isn't the greatest to me," Wale said. "I'm blessed to be fortunate enough to get on in an era where Internet is saving a lot of people or helping a lot of people. But also I'm cursed to come in an era where the Internet is giving people's stuff away."
Within hours of its release "Wale" and "Rapradar" began trending on Twitter. Thousands downloaded the mixtape. Critics from the Wall Street Journal to The Washington Post praised his latest efforts.
With the success of "More About Nothing," Wale still continues to hustle.
"I'm hungry," he said. "I have an OCD with satisfaction. I'm never quite satisfied.
"I'm in the middle of the pack," he added. "Everybody is gunning to be No. 1, but I'm nowhere near that. By no means do I think I'm famous. I think I'm doing OK, I'm on the right track. I'm an average guy with a lot people that believe in him but not enough."
Wale recently released videos for "The Work" and "The Guilty Pleasure (No Hands)" with fellow rappers Waka Flocka and Roscoe Dash.
