I discovered rapper Wale (pronounced "Wah-lay") last year when he dropped the genius Senifeld themed "Mixtape About Nothing". Knowing absolutely nothing about dude, to say I was greatly impressed would be an understatement. Especially since dude is from Washington, DC, a place I lived for a couple of years and hated deeply. I am too ig'nant to really appreciate Go-go music, but dude managed to rhyme over a couple of go-go sounding tracks which resulted in me appreciating DC and the go-go scene much more than I thought I ever would. Dude can spit with the best, and beyond the go-go influence, beats was crazy. On top of all that, the mixtape came complete with an authentic drop from none other than Julia Louis-Dreyfus better known as Elaine Benes of the original Seinfeld sitcom. How official was that?
So impressed, I went back and copped his first official mixtape, "100 Miles And Running". This joint was a lot rawer and nothing less than straight fires. Made me take notice of a true up and coming rapper that deserves all the attention and accolades he gets.
Dropping last week, I knew I had to jump on the latest piece, "Back To The Feature". Produced primarily by 9th Wonder and showcasing mad features with artists like Talib Kweli, Beanie Sigel, and Bun B (Features, get it?), this joint is complete from start to finish. Don't be fooled by that Lady Gaga joint on the radio that I hear people on Twitter dissing, and just to take you a lil bit further away from all the Drake uber-hype that's sweeping the country (Drake is hot, the hype is not) please believe that there's nothing out there, retail or free that is as hot as this. Please cop this at the original site here.
Run quote me: This is the hottest shit out on the streets right about now!
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meh..Wale is aight...he has concepts and themes but he never really SAYS anything..he can rap in the traditional sense...but he's got Fat Joe syndrome, everything he says goes in one ear and out the other...the first time I heard a Wale project was also a mixtape About nothing...I listened to it bout 3-4 times..it was cool..i guess...nuthin I would run to try and put niggas up on personally tho...
ReplyDeleteif its any consolation I liked it much better than Kid Cudi's mixtape...Nowhere near as good as So far gone tho...speaking of which, whats whats wrong with a new up and comer having alot of fan generated hype around him...its rare that you see situations like Drakes anymore...I don't understand this "anti-hype, too-many-people-like-him-so-I-have-to-be-extra-critical-of-him, I'm not part of the masses" stance I keep seeing, either you think he's good, just okay, or wack...why do people take it upon themselves to decide what amount of hype an artist should be getting
I gues what jack is implying, and I cosign is that although Drake is decent(yeah just decent, note dope!) is he really worth all the hype? I (me, not Jack) dont think he deserves it, my opinion. And that is mostly based on the fact that he jacked Ye's corner of HipHop. I mean should we fall all over ourselves from a dude that admits hes a swagger jacker? Seriously though, I dont see the next Jay, the next Em, the next Ye or the next 50 in this guy. The last time I saw people get all crazy was Papoose (maybe some other dude but comes to mind!) and he self destructed before could drop an album. (Saigon also!) Now these last two dudes I respect , but they all hype pretty killed their chances of success because were expecting way to much, and it just turned into a dog and pony show
ReplyDeletesaigon and especially pap had the streets on lock for a minute, but drake has the ladies on his side...
ReplyDeletewale is going to do his thing he we will be able to get and already has a good following, but drake has the most mainstream appael at the moment, wether that is good or not we´ll see.
Of the new cats:
drake - sure to blow
wale - will do allright
b.o.b. - wild card
kid cudi - will fade away
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a review on this mixtape and I would really appreciate it if you guys could read and comment on it.
http://dawhat.blogspot.com/2009/06/wale-back-to-feature-mixtape-review.html
I am just trying to learn, so any types of comments or criticism would be much appreciated!
thanks in advance.
I also wrote a review.
ReplyDeletehttp://19butmymindisold.blogspot.com/2009/06/wale-back-to-feature.html