Born Olubowale Folarin, Wale is a long time blogger favorite, at least for his early contributions to our chosen genre. He's shifted to more of a mainstream sound as of late but his original output was a fusion of hip hop and go go music. (I've gotten the impression that go-go is a form of disco but don't quote me on that.) Like most rappers, Wale's success rooted from critically acclaimed mixtapes. Of those, The Mixtape About Nothing wasmost popular, a project based on his love for the T.V. show Seinfeld. I've got a couple of those taped buried somewhere in my hard drive but I never got the chance, or more appropriately stated will, to actually check those out. His debut album, Attention Deficit, left fans and critics feeling pleased enough and eventually led to Wale gaining a bigger fan base. Olubowale didn't truly break into the mainstream until he was granted a guest verse on the Waka Flacka sing "No Hands". Somewhere in between that song and his second album, Ambition, Wale was signed and fully endorsed by Maybach Music Group. I never though of him as someone that would strike the attention of Rick Ross, but one thing must have led to another and here we are: MMG's own, Wale.
Yeah, I gave Ambition a few listens but i honestly can't remember all that much of it. I never even got to his first album so I'm going into this review with about as much of an unbiased opinion as humanly possible. For someone who keeps up with contemporary rap as much as I do it's reasonable to ask why I never got to Wale. In simple terms, there are just way too many new artists that may or not be good. Also, in 2011 or whenever the hell he started blowing up I was still probably deep into my hardcore east coast rap phase.
As a person though, I could write all day about Wale. This man has got to be right up there with Wiz Khalifa and J Cole as the softest rappers in the game right now. No one cares more about what people have to say about him than Wale, so the constructive criticism in this review could be put to good use if he scours the internet enough to find this. There is not a single mutherfucker in the entire music industry that takes more credit for shit he didn't do than Olubowale here. I know I just stated that I'm not all that familiar with his work but I know enough to say he's not trash. He's not bad but he's just very delicate and has the personality of a seven year old. Assuming you have some idea of what's happening in today's pop culture, you've more than likely seen one of Wale's Twitter rants or him throwing a hissy fit over some shit. It boils down to the fact that he is overly protective of his self image and he'll cry about it if anyone says something about him. This is the type of guy who will get up and update his own Wikipedia page.
But his personality doesn't matter that much when I'm listening so I'll just call it like I see it. This finally brings us to his current project, The Gifted, released on June 25, 2013. His last album certainly showed hints of it but this is his first attempt at a full out mainstream hip hop album. I'm honestly interested to hear how he fairs.
And with that, you've just read your brief history lesson on Wale and I sure as hell hope you don't have any question. None, i just wrote the mains biography as my supposed "short" review introduction...
1. The Curse Of The Gifted
The album starts off with a couple of hood rats talking shit over the fact the Wale's got a damn statue of himself and proceed to vandalize the shit out of it. I'm sure it won't be along for long but the intro, which is basically the title tack, touches on the albums topic. Wale talks about how gifted he is from his ability to rap, but then brings up the curse that accompanies it. I wasn't impressed with the instrumental but Wale's rapping was very nice. Hey, sure as hell beats a boring ass intro.
2. LoveHate Thing (Feat. Sam Dew)
This track just screams summer to me. Wale's breezy flow knotted between the nicely executed vocals are just relaxing. He reminisces over gun talk and stories of him as a child growing up in the DMV, but the complicated artist in him is Wale looking back and realizing all the potential dangers that he didn't realize at the time and ends up being a song where Wale is greatful to have made it out of the neighborhood alive. As the name that is purposefully un spaced may have indicated, his relationship with D.C. is a love hate thing.
3. Sunshine
In his third album effort, Wale made it clear that he wanted to include his fair share of black soul. The influences are periodically found throughout the album but its obvious this is what he was going for on this song. Wale sounds very jovial the entire song and i would almost feel bad for criticizing this. You never know what's going to set Wale off next so I'll just smile and move on o the next track.
4. Heaven's Afternoon (Feat. Meek Mill)
Not even going to lie, I kind of like this shit. It has all the ingredients of something I would roll my eyes at and never listen to again. Wale yelling about what he came from and how no one was exception anything from him. His lyrics leave a whole lot to be desired as a whole and to top everything off Meek Mill makes an appearance. All of the previously listed elements are completely true but I seem to enjoy this song for some odd reason. Most likely, its the beat. It's not great or anything but everything seems precisely planned out and all the instruments are hitting at the right time. I really would have appreciated if they found it in their heart to cut off the long ass final minute where the same sentence is continuously repeated. Can't have everything though, can ya.
As indicated by the album artwork, the whole Jesus Piece thing plays a big role in the loosely brought up theme. In the albums fifth entry I think that Wale is not condoning the wearing of this particular piece of jewelry. Jewelry is bad or something, but he still happens to wear them anyways. I really tried to find out what he was trying to get across but the song just came off as poorly executed. The lyrics are still pretty good though and the instrumental pretty much lets me forget about the story line with no remorse. Not bad at all.
6. Vanity
I'm fairly certain Wale doesn't even know what the fuck the words he is saying even means but they sound pretty damn cool. The hook kind of blows but Wale continues to lay down some good ass lyrics. The instrumental seems lazy for the most part and derail the momentum created by our host. The word "Vanity" is written all over the liner note so I'm assuming it has some meaning but quite honestly I just can't bring myself to give a fuck.
7. Gullible (Feat. CeeLo Green)
The seventh track brings us to one of my favorite songs on the album. Wale is basically saying that just because someone says something it doesn't mean it's true. As obvious as that it, Wale is able to think up some pretty funny shit and results in a hilarious politically conscience track. With the CeeLo feature, the black soul also makes a bigger appearance, which was a nice touch. The track ends with a guy talking about his proficiency in selling drugs. I thought it was funny as fuck when he called himself "LeCoke James" so this skit passes with flying colors.
8. Bricks (Feat. Yo Gotti & Lyfe Jennings)
For some rappers, being socially conscience is a terrible move and it just sounds stupid. In Wale's case, its almost always a good thing but it doesn't work on this track. Almost all rap albums contain some song degrading the selling of drugs. In this album it happens to be crack and it just comes off as incredibly generic. The Yo Gotti feature only makes things worse,as he comes off as even more unconcerned with the issue at hand. Seriously, these guys lines are so insincere that it sounds like they're secretly plotting to murder you.
9. Clappers (Feat. Nikki Minaj & Juicy J)
ok.
10. Bad (Remix) [Feat. Rihanna]
Wale pulls one out of the Gang Starr playbook and includes the remix of the original song right in the middle of the album while the original is demoted to after the outro. There's not much off a difference from the original besides Rihanna singing the hook and she actually raps a little during the verses. Most of you have probably already heard this song and I'm not going to change your opinion but I don't hate this song as much as it seems like I would. My lack of hatred is definitely needed because this album has suddenly taken a downwards turn.
I'm having a hard time really justifying this song appearing of the album. I mean I knew Rick Ross was going to show up on here sooner or later and I'm not mad that there's a few tracks that are going to be going in the direction of radio play but there's honestly nothing appealing about this song. Wale's rapping is sub par, Rick Ross blows cock as usual and the instrumental was boring as fuck. Ne-Yo seemed to be on some Michael Jackson shit though, which I won't complain about.
12. Rotation (Feat. Wiz Khalifa & 2 Chainz)
Oh come on just look at the damn features. You seriously think I'm going to say a single fucking positive thing about this song. No one's surprisingly good, I could have made this beat, and the hook is the farthest thing from catchy. I'm sure all the stoners were waiting for this one though so here you go. Another wasted spot on the track list. I might be going a little hard but it's late at night and I'm just not in the mood for this.
13. Simple Man
Oh shit, this song actually fucking knocks. Highlight of the album and this point, as it magnifies everything Wale is good at. The beat screams mid nineties, a format that Wale sound outstanding over. Lyrically, he sounds kind of pissed off, while stating that all he wants is the money and not the fame. How that makes him a simple man is still a mystery to me but I'm not even going to act like I have anything to complain about on this song.
The sneakerhead in me appreciated the hell out of this song while the hip hop head in me felt the same way. Wale isn't spitting anything crazy but his delivery compliments the instrumental perfectly and goes nicely with what the song is trying to get across. Now the previously mentioned instrumental. Just Blaze's beat is a fucking monster and ranks right at the very top of this album. Terrific one two punch along with "Simple Man"
15. Black Heroes / Outro About Nothing (Feat. Jerry Seinfeld)
Typing out that title just left me feeling confused as hell. First things first, the actual track about black heroes would have been a fine way to end the album. Wale raps about the complete absence of black heroes in society, which is bullshit but I'm not going to delve too deep into the subject. He then tells us all that we are gifted, which is the feel good moment of the evening. Musically, everything sounds like a good enough way to end the album..... Until there is a hidden track i guess, where Jerry Seinfeld steps into the studio to tease the groups collaborative effort that's supposed to actually be happening. Can't imagine myself picking that one up.
16. Bad (Feat. Tiara Thomas)
Please refer to track ten in regards to my overall opinion on this song.
Wale's third solo effort, The Gifted is quite the mixed bag. Half of the album is extremely good but then it dips into pure horseshit only to be revived on the last couple of songs. Tell you what, I'll take tracks 1-7 and 13-15 and windmill dunk the rest into my recycling bin. Take those ten songs and you've got yourself a damn good album that could easily be up in the area of four stars. Unfortunately that is not the case and we are left with an album with too many problems. I liked some of the production but Wale still hasn't proven himself as an mc. While technically proficient, there's not a single aspect where Wale stands out and he has no signature style. Even rappers like Rick Ross, who I hate, have unmistakable styles, which I give them respect for. Wale on the other hand is merely decent at just about everything and for the life of me i cannot find out what is separating him from every other underground rapper. Like I said though, this album had a lot of potential that is ruined by a mess towards the middle. If you can somehow get past that or just put the recommended songs on some sort of playlist then I actually recommend you give Wale's album a purchase. It's got some of my favorite songs from this year and as an added bonus, its better than Yeezus and Born Sinner.