Wale---The Gifted

Wale-The Gifted-Maybach Music-(2013)

Artist: Wale  

Album: The Gifted

Label: Maybach Music Group

Producers: Just Blaze, Sean C & LV, No Credit, Travis Scott, Cardiak, others  

The name Wale has reached a lot of ears lately. Wale’s name is not new; he has been in the game for a while. He reached his prominence from the D.C. area putting out countless joints and mixtapes. The rest was history after inking the deal with the infamous Maybach Music label.  He made an impressive debut on Maybach’s Self-Made Vol 1 mixtapge. His singles made noise especially “Pretty Girls” that grabbed the attention from many hip hop artists. His debut album Attention Deficit received great reviews but took a minor hit of the sophomore jinx with Ambition due to mixed reviews.  Now let’s see if the third opus The Gifted meets the expectations.  

            There is no question that Wale has a winning start on this album. The Sean C and LV produced “The Curse of the Gifted” place Wale on the pedestal whether you love him or hate him you got to respect him. The piano instrumentation and the knocking drums of The Curse of the Gifted is addictive where he rips it and “Love Hate Thing” featuring Sam Dew puts Wale into perspective of how the game treats him on top.  The finger snaps and the soulful vibe makes this one of the hit records especially Sam Dew’s chorus as Wale bodies the track: you made me what I am, you made me what I am not/they gon’ love you a little different when you at the top. Absolutely true statement! “Sunshine” feels energetic with the live instrumentation where Wale makes this track work and “Heaven’s Afternoon” featuring Meek Mill is an awesome duo track with the producers providing the horns, kicks and strings to make the track contemporary as Wale showed his condolences to a member of Joey Bada$$ group Pro Era.

            Wale is not afraid to take risks on this album. Take “Golden Salvation” for example where he takes his imagination to another level by spitting metaphors about jewelry and added religion which works really well; reminiscence of Nas’s “I Give You Power” and 50 Cent’s “Baltimore Love Thing” while “Vanity” works for the clubs with melodic piano sound and the bass that is upbeat. The middle part of the album made an unexpected turn sounding electronic that did not work too well. “Rotation” featuring Wiz Khalifa and 2 Chainz is a pot rotation track that sounds average although the beat has a nicely heavy bass to it. Wale and Wiz did their thing but 2 Chainz just didn’t fit. “Bad” remix featuring Rihanna is a filler that sounds okay, the original version featuring Tiara Thomas fits better while “Simple Man” barely works well despite the hard hitting 90’s boom bap drums, the piano feel and the 2Pac infused chorus. The album does return to the good track from Just Blaze produced “88”. Just Blaze gel well with Wale as they swing the momentum to a more energetic feel with the epic instrumental sample and straight knocking drums and Wale owns this track on “Black Heroes”

            This album is an impressive opus from Wale; well consistent than “Ambition” as Wale is a force to be reckon with. At first, I didn’t think about giving this a listen but after a few listens, the musical chemistry and the overall package is put together. A few fillers in the middle of the album are electronic/pop influenced that switched the momentum a little bit but didn’t destroy the integrity of the album. Wale rips the album with fiery lyrics and the guest appearances made the album felt more like working in the studio. Song creation is the theme and Wale’s album is really a truly gifted product.  

            Strong Tracks: “Heaven’s Afternoon”, “88”, “The Curse of the Gifted”, “Love Hate Thing”, “Sunshine”, “Golden Salvation”, “Vanity”

            Average Tracks: “Rotation”, “Simple Man”, “Bad (Remix)”

            Weak Tracks:  None

            Rating:out of