TORONTO - Wale is counting down the days until he finally releases his long-awaited, long-delayed debut CD, "Attention Deficit," which he calls the culmination of a lifetime of work.

It's a time to celebrate, but the excitable Washington rapper is instead agitated.

Whether it's the perceived slights of commercial radio, the very-real slights that roll in from followers on his popular Twitter account or the Internet leak of his album (which sees its official release on Tuesday), Wale has no shortage of issues keeping him awake at night.

"If someone asks me how many records I'm going to sell in my first week ... I don't know," he told The Canadian Press in a recent telephone interview while on tour in Canada with Jay-Z.

"I don't know what my fanbase looks like. I don't know what conversations are like about myself ... when I'm not around. I can't tell.

"Sometimes I just wish I could be a fly on the wall or have telepathy or something."

Of course, when Wale has had a window into the public's unfiltered thoughts, he hasn't always enjoyed it.

Born Olubowale Victor Folarin to Nigerian immigrant parents, Wale began to gain notice in Washington around the release of his first mixtape, 2005's "Paint a Picture."

His profile really began to rise in 2007, when he dropped his third mixtape ("100 Miles & Running"), caught the ear of acclaimed producer Mark Ronson and released a significant single in "Nike Boots."

Aside from featuring a killer hook, the song established Wale's formula: an irregular flow and deceptively meaningful lyrics couched in oddball pop culture and sports references (far from strictly being an earworm endorsement for shoes, "Nike Boots" delves into class consciousness, racial insecurity and conspicuous consumption).

Soon, Wale had endorsements from the likes of Kanye West and Jay-Z, whose Roc Nation label now co-manages the MC. In 2008, Wale announced that his upcoming debut album would feature production from West, Ronson, 9th Wonder, Just Blaze and French electronic duo Justice.

Meantime, he caught even more underground attention for "Mixtape About Nothing," his 18-song tribute to "Seinfeld" that caught the attention of not just hip-hop heads but indie fans who appreciated his easy juxtaposition of clever, goofy punchlines and serious subject matter ("The Kramer" begins with a recording of Michael Richards' infamous racist rant at a L.A. comedy club before giving way to a wide-ranging meditation on race and semantics).

But as the buzz built, so did the backlash. With the lengthy amount of time building before the release of "Attention Deficit" and Wale's Twitter-aided accessibility, he dealt with it first-hand.

"It's unfortunate that you work so hard at your music and you get judged so early," he said.

Indeed, the criticism gets under his skin. With more than 114,000 Twitter followers, he routinely takes time to respond directly to individual people who attack him (sample tweet: "to the haters i wish u triple the success God has given me, and quadruple the hate ive obtained.")

Some of that criticism stemmed from "Chillin," the breezy first single from "Attention Deficit." It features a hook sung by flamboyant electro-pop pixie Lady Gaga, which inspired some corners to scream that he had sold out.

"'Chillin' is, essentially, it's almost like the flyer," he explains. "Let me just make something that's really, really catchy, and that's going to introduce you to who I am.

"Let's create awareness of Wale." (He also creates awareness of the correct pronunciation of his name, rapping: "They keep saying 'whale' but my name 'Wah-lay."')

Even if the song was meant as an intro, it still featured his unique sense of humour, plus anachronistic references to subjects including Judge Mills Lane, "Superbad" and Golden State Warriors general manager Chris Mullin.

Elsewhere, the record is "ultra personal," Wale says.

"Diary" finds the rapper pleading with a love interest who's been burned in the past, while "Contemplate," which features Rihanna, flows from discussions of facing haters ("One day everybody is applaudin'/ The next day you're everybody's target") to ruminations on suicide.

For a major-label hip-hop debut, guest spots are dispensed sparingly, though Wale found room for "personal friends" Melanie Fiona and K'naan, both of whom call Toronto home.

Wale says he thinks it's inevitable that the Somali-born K'naan's career will take off in the U.S.

"I think it's just a matter of time," he said. "I think he's one of the most talented people in the music business. I can't say enough about K'naan."

As for Wale's own career? Again, he's not so sure.

"Chillin"' charted in the U.S. and Canada (where it was actually more successful), but his exasperation with his amount of radio airplay is clear.

"I got a love/hate relationship with radio," said Wale, who admitted via Twitter on Thursday that he's been too anxious to sleep with the album's release so close.

"It's alarming. You want to be able to keep your record deal, and make good music, but you've gotta connect with the people, somehow, and radio's still ... the No. 1 platform for music. You definitely need them.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

And yet, when asked where he sees his career going, he's optimistic.

"Hopefully to the top, man," he said. "I'm not a big radio artist, but I have a cult following, and I've been touring, and working hard, and getting my face out there. So you never really know.

"But I just want to connect with the people, which is the most important thing, that the people know I'm here and I've got a different story to tell."

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