Alright...
So I been havin an ongoing healthy debate with some of my fam on Twitter about Wale. DMV bred rapper with a creative approach to Hip-Hop (from what I had been told lol) In the beginning I will say that I really was not a fan of Wale. I didn't see anything spectacular about him besides the fact that he's from my hometown and he is putting Go-Go music on the map in a positive way by having UCB as his band. I think that is commendable and Dope because the world needs to hear Go-Go... Not just the DMV so I applaud Wale for his love for home and his hard core reppin'. I dig that. However I heard a few songs from Wale like 'Chillin', 'Nike Boots', Features on the 'Rising Up' track from The Roots & Features on Cudi's 'Is There Any Love' & a track called 'Look Up In The Stars'. There is one line in 'Chillin' that bugged me "You say you got alotta whips, well I got a Lot"
Wale said he was going for the "Doube Entendre" effect with this line but his folks told him he was reachin. YOU ARE RIGHT Wale... You were reachin HARD lol... that was a lil much. ha ha.
Anyway...
To me there was nothing that Wale said that another rapper couldn't have said. A lot of my people are like "Wale is reminiscent of 'The College Dropout' Ye as far as his hunger and hustle. I was kind of perplexed in regards to that comparison because in my opinion AS IT STILL STANDS I don't see anything Kanye-esque About Wale. Someone even said "He is the next Ye"... I say that is Hip Hop Blasphemy. He and Kanye are pretty different in my opinion. Kanye transcends music and creates on levels people weren't even ready for back in 04 and still aren't ready for now. I mean don't get me wrong... Wale is a talented dude. (Now that I have listened to 'The Mixtape About Nothing' & 'Back 2 The Feature' I can say he is creative and has a unique approach to Hip-Hop.
I will admit whole heartedly that I wasn't a believer in this Kid. I'm still not there 100% but after taking a full open minded listen to both these mixtapes, I appreciate where Wale is going with his music and his sound. On 'The Mixtape About Nothing' I loved the way he incorporated the Seinfeld footage in the tape. Because as everyone knows 'Seinfeld' was a show about nothing. I love how he intertwined those concepts and actually made the mixtape about something. Spitting about issues people rarely touch bases on in this genre. It was more than just money, hoes, and clothes. It was about life, different ideas regarding the word Nigga, ways that men approach women, etc. So I respect it. After taking a hard listen this opened my mind to the opinions my folks were throwin at me before. So I can dig it a little more so now.
As far as 'Back 2 The Feature' this tape was a little long for my taste but I do love the range of Artists featured on it. Bun B., J. Cole, Memphis Bleek, Budden, Jean Grae, Lady GaGa etc. This was a very respectable wide range of artists. What I liked most about this mixtape was that these Cats just went in on straight rappin... bar after bar delivery. I loved that about this. Instead of all the singing, and emo rap, that alot of people are doin today so I respect Wale for taking it to a point where they focused on the delivery and the Art of just pure Hip-Hop. I loved the different subject matters on this album as well. I loved the Soulful yet Gritty feel of the tape.
So overall I can say that taking a little more time and auditory openness to Wale, I like him more than I did before. I also like how on each Mixtape he talks and just opens up about his thought processes and opinions so it gave me a little more insight as to who he is. So i can say I'm becoming more of a believer. I am looking forward to hearing more from him when 'Attention Deficit' comes out.
So to all my folks who have been urgin me to take a harder listen to Wale and give him a chance, I did LOL... and ultimately I can say not bad Wale... Not bad...
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