Are you a local band? Did you release a full length album in 2011? Did we forget to review it? If you answered yes to the first two questions, the answer to the third is probably also an affirmative. Oops. Our bad. We're sorry. We'll do better in 2012. Still, since "we'll do better" doesn't sound much like a retroactive "we'll review your album," relax. We'll do that, too. Here are some brief thoughts on the local LPs that we'd meant to analyze earlier. more ›

MONDAY

Last seen in D.C. opening for She & Him at the 9:30 Club in July, L.A. folk-pop duo The Chapin Sisters bring their enchanting vocal harmonies back to Iota tonight, showcasing new material from their well-received second album, Two. Leslie Stevens and Neema open. $12. 8 p.m. more ›

Wait, there's another story about a bunch of people mortified with the amount of profanity which was included at a Wale performance? Indeed: the Post reports that the president of University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia felt the need to apologize to the university's neighbors for the amount of profanity and noise Wale used and made during his set at the college's homecoming festivities on Saturday. Of course, Wale's no stranger to this kind of thing: back in July, Baltimore considered taking legal action against the rapper after he said a bunch of naughty words on stage. (Of course, Wale's also performed at Georgetown, Virginia and James Madison recently, without people getting all cranky.) I guess the lesson is if you're putting on an outdoor show on a quasi-residential area, maybe it's not the best idea to book a guy who has a reputation for cursing a lot. Did no one at UMW think to Google the guy's lyrics before booking him? more ›

Sure, Wale's new video for "The Work" includes a quick shot of Ben's Chili Bowl. (What D.C. hip hop video doesn't?) But it also likely has one of the biggest collections of District-tastic b-roll in the history of music videos, the MC's homage to "the other side of D.C." Every notable D.C.-related landmark/reference I was able to spot in the 176 second video, after the jump. more ›

One thing that didn't quite make it into our About Tonight post this afternoon: Wale will be at Commonwealth (1781 Florida Ave NW) this evening to hand out the only hard copies of his second Seinfeld-inspired mixtape, More About Nothing. The sneaker and apparel store tweeted minutes ago that the hometown MC would be on hand at 7 p.m. to promote the follow-up to his much-beloved The Mixtape About Nothing. If you want to try and grad a hard copy, better get there early -- there's only 300 to go around. For those that are just happy with listening digitally, Mr. Folarin's latest full-length was released for free on the web today. more ›

Both Mayor Adrian Fenty and Council Chairman Vincent Gray have strong records on supporting LGBT rights in D.C. -- but Gray's record is a smidge better, if the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club's endorsement is any indication. Lou Chibbaro Jr. reports that Gray has narrowly won the Stein Club's endorsement, meeting a 60-percent threshold by just 3 votes. According to Chibbaro, activists expected Gray to lead Fenty but figured that the candidates would ultimately split the vote. In absolute numbers, though, Gray won twice the votes Fenty received. more ›

Rising rap star and D.C. area native Wale will make a guest appearance at this weekend's DC Black Pride festival after all, Metro Weekly is reporting. more ›

Following allegations published in Metro Weekly and the Washington Blade that he backed out of an appearance at DC Black Pride because he didn't want to perform at an LGBT event, rapper and D.C. area native Wale has taken to Twitter to defend himself. more ›

The Washington Blade reports on a potentially very ugly turn of events for rising homegrown rap star Wale. It seems the musician was originally slated to perform at this year's DC Black Pride festival, part of the annual Capital Pride events, but has since pulled out, claiming that he "didn't know Black Pride was a gay-related event when he agreed to appear." more ›

As I sat on my perch inside RFK Stadium last night, preparing to witness the fifteenth home opener in D.C. United's history with 20,664 of my closest friends, my thoughts didn't wander to how new center back Juan Manuel Pena would perform, or how large the ovation would be for Salvadoran newcomer Cristian Castillo or even to what the bass levels were on Wale's amps on the Armory Mall as reverberations of his pre-game set echoed through the stadium's corridors. No, I thought about the pitch; more specifically, how a winter college football bowl, yet again, made RFK's pitch look downright terrible. more ›

The following post is from our advertiser, D.C. United.

Wale headlined a bill stacked with local hip-hop artists at the 9:30 Club on Monday night, as D.C.'s music community staged a benefit concert in support of earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Tabi Bonney, Paula Campbell, D.C. Don Juan, Phil Adé, and a host of other acts also performed at the event, for which the 9:30 Club donated the use of its facilities -- club employees even donated their wages for the evening. All proceeds from the concert, including ticket sales, service charges, and drink sales, were to be donated to Partners in Health (a non-profit organization with a longstanding engagement with Haiti) and Yéle Haiti (the foundation started by Wyclef Jean that has recently come under scrutiny for alleged financial misconduct). The show appeared to sell out, and a festive atmosphere prevailed, culminating in the exuberance provoked by Wale's characteristically boisterous performance. A number of speakers, including Ward 5 D.C. Council member Harry "Tommy" Thomas, Jr., addressed the crowd between sets, and the musicians offered frequent reminders of the crisis that prompted their congregation on Monday night. more ›

[R]ight now there’s very little that can be done with the money. There are myriad bottlenecks and obstacles involved in getting help to the Haitians who need it, but lack of funds is not one of them. For the next few weeks, help will come largely from governments, who are also spending hundreds of millions of dollars and mobilizing thousands of soldiers to the cause. But with the UN alone seeking to raise $550 million, it’s going to be easy to say that all the money donated to date isn’t remotely enough. more ›

Something called the "Soul Collective Tour," presented by Kia, is coming to D.C. this weekend. What that means for you: Free MGMT, Wale and Dan Deacon shows. more ›

A month and a half after the anticipated release date, Wale has finally dropped the followup to last year's The Mixtape About Nothing. Metal Lungies couldn't be any more about Back to the Feature, produced by 9th Wonder and mixed by Nick Catchdubs. Their enthusiasm notwithstanding, Metal Lungies doesn't have a working link to download the mixtape -- you can get that here. Maybe some of you haters will like this version of "Chillin" better? more ›

The answer is no. No you cannot. more ›

To mark the recent anniversary of Redskins safety Sean Taylor's murder, 93.9 WKYS brought together several local hip hop and R&B talents to collaborate on a tribute song. The radio station's afternoon drivetime DJ, EZ Street said, “The idea for doing this song is simple. To honor # 21 Sean and to send a message that to the community that we must never forget that there is still much work to do stop the violence in our community. Sean’s tragic death acts a reminder." more ›