Wale the gifted download album
Names like Just Blaze, Lee Majors, Cardiak, and No Credit supply the beats for this more mature/still flashy release, all of it adding up to Wale's win number three. As beefy as it gets, "Rotation" is still the puff-puff-pass weed anthem stoners wish for, with "Bad" (featuring Rihanna), "Tired of Dreaming" (featuring Ne-Yo and Rick Ross), and "Clappers" (featuring Nicki Minaj and Juicy J) coming off as great bangers that don't squander their superstar guests. "Simple Man" is self-reflection with a head-nodding beat and some witty borrowing from 2Pac then there's the great and quite big "Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece)," which juxtaposes lyrics about the Gospel and bling for a layered and interesting swagger fest. "LoveHate Thing" is a breezy summertime jam reminiscing with plenty of gun talk and reckless stories of youth, but the complicated Wale can look to his dangerous past with much love and much gratitude that he made it through those days alive. Besides being solidly built and not overstuffed at 16 tracks long, The Gifted is the fascinating sound of the life of the party growing up, and that's as in "in the process," because there are still plenty of club bangers, strip-club jams, and irresponsible moments, and all of them are welcome. But the cost of that versatility is focus.While his first two efforts were smart, clever, funny, and infectious, rapper Wale was never one known to offer rich insight, but on the opening number of the aptly titled The Gifted, he spits "The status got me trippin'/I like my bitch but I like these bitches on my dick be spittin'/Tell that you feelin' different, knowin' you the bread winner," and suddenly the hook of this great album reveals itself. 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.
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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. That’s a pretty grandiose package, but it brings to mind the proverbial book that belies its cover.
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Meek Mill) 05 Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece) 06 Vanity 07 Gullible (Feat. Sam Dew) 03 Sunshine 04 Heaven’s Afternoon (Feat. If you ask Wale, the answer to this problem is clearly Wale, who drops his third album with the title The Gifted and cover art featuring a bust of himself. Tracklist: 01 The Curse Of The Gifted 02 LoveHate Thing (Feat.
#Wale the gifted download album 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. But that rapper, if he’s going to become the first rap hero of 2013, has to be somebody really great, reallygifted.