Chicago rapper, Valee, is one of the more interesting rising stars in the rap game right now. Signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label, Valee's music positions itself as the inverse of the popular Chicago sound. Eschewing any aggressiveness in his music, Valee's songs are often slow-paced and methodical, with carefully placed, off-kilter flows that continue to surprise.
Today, The Fader has release a short documentary film about Valee, titled "Whatever Whenever," documenting his origins and his creative process.
The first thing we learn about Valee is the one people get wrong the most: how to pronounce his name (vuh-lay), before moving on to something completely different. Valee in real life isn't all that different from the Valee in the raps, and he remains soft-spoken throughout the video. Never the less, there are things we can extrapolate about Valee from the video.
First is that he likes to race RC cars. Valee used to run a construction and electrician company before he started rapping, so it's not surprising that electronics are interesting to him. Second, is that he loves his mother enough to not send her his songs with swear words in them.
Valee says that the sound coming from Chicago wasn't very creative when he started rapping, just people making good songs over good beats. Valee aimed to change that with his music, though even he's not entirely sure how he does it.
You can check out the Fader documentary, "Whatever Whenever" below, and check out Valee's recent EP HERE.
