The rest of the United States is oblivious to the Washington, D.C., area's distinct musical swagger, a marriage of underground hip-hop and locally grown go-go.

That will change Oct. 20 when Wale, born Olubowale Victor Akintimehin, drops "Attention: Deficit," his Interscope Records debut. The album is an exclamation point to four years of buzz-inducing mixtapes, a spot on XXL Magazine's cover and a management deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation imprint.

"It's potentially the coming out party for what I'm trying to do musically,"Wale said from a California hotel.

Wale was born and raised in the District before moving to Maryland. Along the way Wale ("Say Wah-lay, don't say Wah-lee," he reminds listeners) graduated from Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg in 2001, settling in Largo six years ago. He frequently shouts out the DMV — District, Maryland, Virginia — with special attention for Prince George's County.

"I think we've got some of the most beautiful women in Prince George's," Wale says. "We're kind of overlooked. If P.G. County was a city, it would be like a major city."

Wale's musical appeal stems from layering clever raps over bouncy beats that often sample go-go. He raps about D.C. landmarks, social problems and retro video games, his rhymes exhibiting encyclopedic sports knowledge. His inflection is upbeat, defying the rapper stereotype.

"I don't like make it my goal [to be different]. To be like, ‘This is what I'm gonna do.' I just know we have a unique sound where I'm from," Wale says.

An Internet success

The Internet drives Wale's career. Much of his music can be traced to online connections.

Best Kept Secret, a Southwest Washington production team consisting of Craig "Craig B." Balmoris and Ernest "Tone P." Price, has worked with Wale for years. They met on MySpace.

"Once he gave us his e-mail, we sent a track out. He liked the track and we met up with him," Craig B. says, describing the stack of competing producers' CDs in Wale's car during that first encounter. "We just bullied [our] CD on him. ‘Hey, we'll play you those tracks, you gotta listen.'"

Wale listened, now calling Best Kept Secret and Miami's Cool & Dre his favorite producers to work with.

North Carolina's 9th Wonder produced much of Wale's most recent mixtape, "Back To The Feature." Without a virtual relationship, that may have been impossible.

"We had to do most of it on the Internet. We did a couple of songs together in North Carolina," Wale says of the mixtape, which includes a remix of his album's first single, "Chillin," a hit song featuring Lady Gaga that bloggers have criticized as catering to pop listeners.

"‘Chillin' is a song you actually play on the radio, as much criticism that's come from the peanut gallery," says Nick "Catchdubs" Barat, the Brooklyn, N.Y., disc jockey who mixed Wale's most recent mixtapes.

"Hot 97 in New York can play it; they play it in L.A. The whole idea of doing this is to penetrate the culture."

In 2006, Catchdubs met Wale while writing a story on the rapper for The Fader Magazine. Since leaving the publication, Catchdubs assembled "100 Miles And Running," "The Mixtape About Nothing" and "Back To The Feature," all free downloads.

"It was good timing, a little bit of luck that I'm one of the first to capitalize" on free mixtapes, Wale says.

The three mixtapes feature interviews between songs, rather than the usual screaming D.J.

"It was just me falling back a little on the stuff from when I was working at a magazine," Catchdubs says. "The interludes are an opportunity to put the music into context."

Online success led to this year's worldwide tour alongside go-go band UCB. Touring can be lucrative, though Wale's live performances are mostly about growing an audience.

"I'm doing alright on the road. But I put the art first, and do as many shows I can," Wale says. "I do a lot of shows for free."

Crabs in a barrel

Though acts such as Mambo Sauce and Tabi Bonney have appeared on the national radar recently, the perception is that D.C. lacks a national hip-hop presence. As such, all eyes are on Wale.

"He has the pressure of representing the region, which he hasn't asked for," Catchdubs says.

One reason for the dearth of big-time Washington rappers is lack of unity.

"It's the whole crabs in the bucket thing," Tone P. says. "Nobody sticks together, nobody wants to work together to work with synergy."

D.C. rapper Jamaal "X.O." Walton's song, "Crabs In A Barrel," explains the difficulty in rising above a crowded scene.

"So many people are trying to do the same thing. We are all fighting for the same opportunity," X.O. says. "I don't know what the solution is, but … good music, at the end of the day, earns the respect of the people."

On "Payback," Wale acknowledges the stifling atmosphere: "A bucket full of crabs/Damn right I made it out."

Tone P. and Craig B., talented in their own right, acknowledge high-profile work with Wale contributed to other opportunities.

"A lot of it's due to Wale," Tone P. says.

X.O. takes credit for his own success, but recognizes the role "Attention: Deficit" will play in elevating the DMV.

"It's going to show the world and really wave our flag," he says. "All eyes and attention will be on Washington, D.C."

Shawn "Shabooty" Behnam, who runs hip-hop and humor-oriented shabooty.com, knew Wale was onto something while visiting family in Brooklyn, N.Y. They were listening to Wale.

"The fact that, on say Twitter, if you say DMV, nine-tenths of people will know what you are talking about" is evidence of Wale's national audience, says Shabooty, who attended Quince Orchard with Wale.

"That little moniker has helped put the area on the map."

Music your mother might love

Leading up to his debut, Wale is staying busy, in Oslo, Norway one week and New York the next.

"I haven't been in the studio for a month," Wale says.

He discusses this on "Back To The Feature," brushing aside criticisms of the mixtape's delayed release by highlighting constant touring, his focus literally on bringing his music to the world.

"If you're not familiar with what I'm doing, the music is good," Wale says. "It's music you wouldn't be ashamed playing in front of your mother, and music you wouldn't be ashamed playing in front of your friends."

It's also music you will hear on the radio soon, if you haven't already.

Rapping the issues
Like most rappers, Wale isn't shy with opinions. What sets him apart is that he raps about NFL quarterback Brett Favre one minute and social injustice the next. Here are some of the lyrics from his songs:

-On health care: "Fans out of the country, the man out in Canada/Plans to expand my fan base/I might move there/They got the better health care" - from "Work"

-On the region's drug problems in the 1980s: "I start to think it's all planned/It's all too black of me to blame it on the man/Blame it on a man named Reagan/Your face Caucasian you're literally naked" - from "Warming Up Cane"

-On where he represents: "P.G., Riverdale, Largo, Temple Hills, Cap Heights, 124, Landover, Everywhere" - from "Nike Boots"

E-mail John Burgess Everett at jeverett@gazette.net.