I can understand why people don’t fux with Kid Cudi because his themes are darker and more delusional. I can understand why people don’t follow Asher Roth on a larger scale either because his shelf life appears to be somehow similar to a loaf of white bread. But all the h8 that gets thrown towards Wale baffles me. What did he do to y’all? His Mixtape About Nothing was on my 2008 year end list at the top and I never like to qualify mixtapes but Wale’s joint was definetly some of the best music to drop in a long while.
The report cards from XXL mags 2008 Freshmen class aren’t all submitted yet and frankly, I’m not checking for Ace Hood’s debut disk either, but between Asher Roth, Kid Cudi and now Wale’s debut ‘Attention Deficit’ I think you have a clear view of rap music for the next decade. Wale has created his own lane along with Cudi by not just pushing forth lyrics but also re-introducing go-go and afrobeat music to Hip-Hop. I think it works because Wale’s flow is a unique stop and go staccato.
Wale isn’t into over-rhyming like, say a Talib Kweli might on a track that featured a Fela Kuti sample. He’s in control and clearly thoughtful of how he wants his lyrics to be received. My only complaint for this debut album is that there isn’t enough of Wale in here. All the ideas he expressed on the Mixtape About Nothing are diluted by the number of guest features on this album. I feel like this project became a Mark Ronson disk highlighted by some Wale tracks. The album is still dope though and the tracks that I love are really, rwally good.
Triumph is the type of song that I would make Wale wear a ‘Coming To America’ lionhead sash in the music video for. 90210 is definitely that ‘Ye Tudda track. It makes me want to sniff some yayze and play Super Nintendo for 36 str8 hours. Prescription is a listen to the boastful Wale persona at his lyrical best. Wale is clearly the most talented rhymesayer from the XXL freshmen ’08 class. Let’s see what he does as a sophomore before we randmly h8 on dude.
Triumph
90210
Prescription
