Wale’s First Outing
By Tomi Oladipo
Artiste: Wale
Album: Attention Deficit
For fans of traditional hip hop Attention Deficit should be a breath of fresh air.
No Autotune, no droning, no finger-snapping, and the annoyingly over-used word “swagger” doesn’t seem to feature.
It is widely believed that the new generation of Kid Cudi, J. Cole, Drake, B.O.B., and Wale, among others, will relieve the genre of the diluted nature that it has developed over the past couple of years.
Attention Deficit is Wale’s debut album, although the Washington DC rapper has already released five mixtapes. Unlike Drake and Kid Cudi (under Lil Wayne and Kanye West respectively), who are now enjoying mainstream success, Wale does not have fame of an already established rapper to boost his popularity. On the title track Wale reckons he can stand his own two feet: I asked Mr. West for a little bit of help/But realized us new n*ggas got to get it ourself. This said, he is signed to Mark Ronson’s Allido Records, and Interscope (and Ronson himself produces some of the songs).
25 year old Wale, was born Olubowale Folarin to Nigerian immigrant parents, but you won’t find him making reference to his roots. Although, the track Shades reflects on his insecurities relating to his dark skin tone. Somali-born Canadian rapper K’naan, one of hip hop’s best kept secrets, lays a typically quirky but sublime verse on In The Radio, a track that features super punchlines from both rappers. Chillin is the album’s lead single, featuring Lady Gaga, who sounds a lot like M.I.A, on the feel-good track. This one is probably Wale’s best chance on this album for mainstream recognition.
Look out for Mirrors featuring Bun B, and 90210 which are also in contention for the best of the collection. Contemplate is a thought-provoking track, as the title suggests, and could easily be a favourite on the album. In Beautiful Bliss Wale works with the new school pair of J.Cole and Melanie Fiona – the former somehow outdoing Wale on his own tune.
The album title seems reflected in the diversity in topics and styles on offer in the 14 track. This could easily be seen as a lack of fluidity especially with the presence of some seemingly out of place songs. If you like Kanye West, or The Roots, then this will be a great addition to your collection. If you had followed the DC rapper’s previous mixtapes you might not consider this one of his best efforts. Attention Deficit though is a brave effort from Wale, and not even his record company had too much faith in it – initially making only 30,000 copies for the album release. A good album by all means, and an assurance that Wale is one to look out for.
Rating: 3.5/5
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