#Wale the gifted 320 full
#Wale the gifted 320 mac

Enter Rick Ross and his Maybach Music Group, who signed Wale to his label in 2011 and gave him a wider platform and the financial backing to experiment with his sound. native's debut album Attention Deficit,Â it hardly moved off the shelves, whichÂ some blame on the lack of promo by Interscope. Although there were some big commercial names on The D.C. Ralph Victor FolarinÂ made a name for himself on the mixtape circuit pleasing rap purists and socially conscious Hip Hop heads alike with his lyrical wordplay concerning the struggles of the hood. The release date of Wale's third album is stuck in the middle.Â

#Wale the gifted 320 mac

Cole and Mac Miller, others are feverishly looking forward to Jay-Zâs Magna Carta Holy Grail, which is droppingÂ on Independence Day. While most rap fans were in their glory last week with the release of albums from Kanye West, J. But the cost of that versatility is focus.With the release of his third album, MMG rapper Wale aims to prove he can be both a lyricist and a poet and still achieve commercial success. When you’re dope enough to sound dope rhyming on everything, you end up rhyming over everything. Call it the blessing and curse of true talent. Cole, Kendrick, etc.-Wale doesn't have a distinctive sound. Ultimately though, as much as I try to focus on the present and forget about the past, listening to The Gifted sounds like listening to an artist who still doesn't really know who they are as an artist. But the truth is bangers just aren't his strength, and what’s wrong with wanting to hear someone at their strongest? If he can make a booty-shaking anthem as good as 'Pop That,' I’ll take it. I feel the same way by 'Clappers,' the album’s obligatory strip club anthem, and while 'Bricks' has some true depth, hearing Yo Gotti’s verse is only a reminder of what street rap can more powerfully sound like.įor the record, I’m not interested in something as cliché as wanting Wale to only make “conscious” records. 'Rotation' has an appropriately hypnotic beat, but it feels more like a song he felt like he should make, not something he was genuinely inspired by. Having already covered “intricate lyricist” and “hit single relationship rapper” territory, for the last third of The Gifted he turns to the streets, and here’s where the album falters. He’s still not done circling the bases though. Switch out Wale here with a host of rappers, and it wouldn't sound much different, and the same can be said of the Ne-Yo assisted 'Tired of Dreaming.' By contrast, 'Gullible'’s a much more interesting selection there aren't many who would use a chorus from a certified hitmaker like CeeLo to talk about social ills, give Wale credit where credit’s due. The 'Bad (Remix),' which for the album’s purposes has effectively replaced the original bad, might just find its way to a radio near you solely on the strength of a Rihanna hook, but otherwise, it’s a frankly unremarkable song. He spends the rest of the album ensuring he crosses off everything on the “Make a hit album” checklist, and now that he’s got 'Lotus Flower Bomb' to his credit, he can’t help but take another shot at rap/pop/r&B crossover magic. Throw '88' into this group and you've got a solid album… The similar album opener, 'The Curse of the Gifted,' falls a little flat, he sounds oddly disinterested in his own song, but that’s not a problem on album standout 'Heaven’s Afternoon.' With MMG’s Meek Mill riding shotgun, this is some of that classic dope rhymes over a dope soul sample hip-hop lovers won’t be able to avoid.

#Wale the gifted 320 full

It’s a style that he used on Ambition, and it returns in full here, most powerfully on 'Golden Salvation.' A full choir, a soaring piano line and some seriously lyrical rhymes that flow from unabashed stunting to thoughtful introspection, this is when Wale is at his best.