Wale - Ambition (REVIEW)

Wale – Ambition (REVIEW)

November 3, 2011 lloyd 18 comments

Become ambitious with Wale on iTunes

I missed the memo on Wale. I must have been preoccupied back in ’08 when his fusion of polished DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia) Go-Go and braggadocio-rap bubbled above the surface. Yes, The Mixtape About Nothing was a great culmination of all things Wale does well. And yes, his debut, Attention:Deficit, was a collection of all things Wale does when he hasn’t had his Ritalin, but none of those albums emphatically moved me onto, or further off of, Wale’s bandwagon.

I’ve always been met with a sense of indifference while listening to a Wale release ever since that fateful Seinfeld homage. But, with Wale’s recent emergence to relevance by teaming up with Rick Ross on his Maybach Music Group imprint, I see no reason why I can’t give Mr. Folorin another shot…

Short verdict: The guy simply doesn’t know how to put an album together. Long verdict:

From the moment that opener “Don’t Hold Your Applause” swept through every crevasse of my headphones (after, of course, hearing that speech impaired woman recite the “Maybach Music” tag) I could hear the dollar signs sprinkling out of this project. Wale loves these types of beats, and he steadily underperforms on the high, and expensive, plateau they lift him to. This time it’s not his fault, as the intro turns the pop meter up to 11 and simply drowns its presenter. Wale’s failure comes next, on a serviceably delivered beat by Mark Henry, with “Double M Genius”.

See, I honestly don’t see anything wrong with Wale’s content or flow. It’s typical commercial fodder mixed with a really developed cadence. What hurts him is that he’s uninteresting to listen to, so when a song like “Double M Genius” or Man on the Moon throwaway “Focused” (With Kid Cudi) require him to match the fanfare of the beat, Wale’s description of “going hard” leads him to throw out dopey lines with little to no enthusiasm connected. Case-and-point: “Higher than high school/Mariah tunes and five flutes/Owe 5 to Hooper’s and light shoes”. That was from “No Days Off”, and besides the fact that that line is utter, pretentious horse-shit, Wale confidently spits it over a silenced section of the instrumental in that type of compound syllable, Detroit MC style. It’s just upsetting to listen to when done so amateurishly.

That really boils down to Wale’s ego. After deeming Ambition a classic weeks before it dropped, it’s not hard to get a beat on the type of guy we’re dealing with. The problem is in the execution. There are certainly good moments, like the DJ Toomp produced “Legendary”, which could be the realest song on here due solely to the beat. It’s a technicality, but I credit Wale’s taste, and “Chain Music” is good, old-fashioned hood shit. Materialistic and fun as hell. “Ambition”, coming 11 tracks deep, finally accentuates “that usual come-up shit” with some earnest grit, although Wale has little to do with it (we’ll get to that later).

Wale’s hubris stalls the album because, for all of these great moments, are some sort of Bizarro World, evil twin that’s less compelling than its counterpart. For every “Legendary”, there’s a “DC or Nothing”, prepared to bury the substance in egregious drama and a useless hook. For each “Chain Music” is a “Slight Work”, effectively reinforcing my theory that Big Sean lowers the maturity level of any track he’s featured on (despite a great Diplo beat simply placed in the wrong hands). And, for every good Wale verse on title track, there’s a bad Wale verse on the title track. He just can’t keep up; a problem that arose on the MMG compilation

I believe this problem has less to do with talent and more to do with the fact that Wale has a hard time defining himself on his own track. “Lotus Flower Bomb”, which disappointed me with its lack of a Radiohead sample, struggles to make itself anything more than a run-of-the-mill Miguel slow jam with a whole lot less Miguel than needed. As far as the rest of the ballads go, they’re a blur. Tightly packaged in the middle of the album, they never rise above the tendencies and influences of their featured guests. And those guests range from Lloyd, to Ne-Yo, to Jeremiah; A Billboard Top 20 mixer, if you will. The latter feature, on “That Way”, standing as the strongest, and a rare highlight.

Wale’s released a string of really good pop songs. He’s never a weak link when featured on someone else’s track, and he’s got the faithful following of a veteran, despite this being only his sophomore release. What hurts this album is what hurt his last four efforts: consistency. I don’t trust Wale to regularly keep me entertained with fresh punchlines. Or blow me away with a fresh take on a familiar rhyme scheme. Or even keep me immersed with an engaging story. I don’t know what I trust Wale to do, but it’s definitely not making a cohesive album. He’s got the ambition for that, quite obviously, but I see no evidence that says he’s got the talent.

6.0/10

K_unit410

GARBAGE REVIEW SON

http://mostlyjunkfood.com lloyd

Thanks for reading.

Avid_Listener

HORRIBLE REVIEW. One thing you gotta understand about Wale is that he puts a message behind every line. You have to LISTEN to his words and not HEAR it. This is the problem with people nowadays. This is why he named his freshman album Attention Deficit, because no one has the attention span to listen. This is the same reason why he made Chain Music which you happen to like. If you listen to the lyrics of that song you will realize what he is trying to say. This is what the song is saying: “People are to used to (Chain Music), conformity, all they listen to is the same (Chain music), I had to change my lyrics for people to finally listen to my music”. He says “They say karrots(gold)(play on “carrots”) help your vision, but somehow it made them LISTEN”. Ironic that so many people love that song. That song is a testament to his message. Have you looked at the artwork? It’s a man with chains around his neck and hands. Perfect for his message. Another line “I been dope, cold nigga, for sure nigga, but where im from there ain’t no love for no broke nigga”. He’s been dope, but he wasn’t getting any love, one cuz of where he is from and 2 because he was BROKE (in reference to this “Chain Music”) he didnt have this “Chain Music”, which made him broke in terms of music listeners. The hook “Chain so big, can’t pop my collar” , everyone thinks this line is like gansta or whatever but it saying he has another “Chain” on his music, that chain is so big that he can’t get his message across, another reason why it has perfect artwork. He knew alot of people would like this song because of the lines, but there is a different message behind them, irony right there. People need to pick up a damn book THEN listen to Wale. Another line “Put money in the book, i bet these bitches wouldn’t find it”. Do I even need to explain this line? Wale is sic and you need to realize dawg. AMBITION is an album illustrating where his ambition has gotten him. LISTEN to his music, then maybe you can accurately critique it.

http://mostlyjunkfood.com lloyd

I got the ulterior message on “Chain Music”. I also got it when a thousand other MC’s tried to tow the line between injecting substance into a pop template. Most recently Danny Brown did that on “Radio Song” (much better, might have you). Also, the classic Renegade line “Do you fools listen to music or do you just skim through it?” I’m well aware of the negligence to content that you’re describing. And I don’t care. Wale’s “message” isn’t original, or freshly conceived, or even that interesting. I gravitate to the more materialistic side of the metaphor because that’s the only side that resonates with any genuine impact. Where a Jay-Z can paint a picture, and a Danny Brown can entertain with bravado, and a Kanye West can be topical yet innovative; Wale cannot. Wale’s “message” is worth about the same as some old drunk, waxing political on a DC stoop. Anyone could do that.

So, your concern doesn’t show me a higher understanding of the material presented to you that could, in any way, verify your analytical rebuttal. It simply shows me that you’re easily impressed. Which is fine, because in the end, you’ve won. You got my attention, now enjoy my deficit.

Avid_Listener

I see what you’re getting at. I actually talked to a person that was saying basically the same thing. It’s about delivery. Also, you were right something, he does struggle to relate in words, he even said it himself. I guess when he discovers the right delivery that’s perfect for him, then maybe he’ll get a little more love. Delivery is what gets people’s attention. Good talking to you. You make valid arguments.

http://mostlyjunkfood.com lloyd

Oh, I’m sorry. Thanks for reading.

Avid_Listener

It was good writing and good talking to you. Thanks for acknowledging me.

Anonymous

You’re an idiot. Don’t insult Lloyd or anyone else here by claiming “Y’ALL JUST DON’T GET IT” when we proffer an opinion contrary to yours. We get it it. Song is mad decent. It’s been done before though. “Family Affair” by Wale is one of the greatest written rap songs EVER, but he still flails more than he succeeds. Bottom line, don’t come on here spewing idiotic vitriol. You have your opinion; Lloyd has his. Kiss your mother for me.

Anonymous

Good Review. I always tell people that its not Wale isn’t a good rapper, it just that he is very hit or miss withs his music. But he has an arrogance about him in ALL of his songs. That arrogance becomes annoying on those songs that are clearly ‘misses’
Anonymous

a wise man once said “Wale makes that ‘Pop that juice box for a nigga real quick, my African queen, whom I adore’ music”

I definitely agree 100% with your review. Dude is hit or miss for sure. Mixtape About Nothing & 100 Miles and Running will always be his best work.
Seth

Maybe if he broke down his arrogance and faced his insecurities more in the face a la Kanye he would make more interesting music. I’m not saying he can’t be arrogant or have a big ego- but it’s just making him unlikable and we don’t get much insight into him as a person. I feel like I know a Drake or J. Cole, or Kanye or Lil Wayne but I don’t feel like I know Wale when I listen to his music. His songs don’t seem to be tied to who he is.

http://mostlyjunkfood.com lloyd

Wale is a caricature rather than a character. There’s no foundation. And, if he wants to continue his style of pop/consciousness, he needs to either be more creative than his peers, or base his social commentary in the type of realism that he’d like us to perceive in him. It’s not easy, though. If he REALLY tried he could pull it off.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Claude-Jay-James-III/554216274 Claude Jay James III

“Wale is a caricature rather than a character”. That is perfect. I’ve been looking for ways to describe Wale but this takes the cake, and I have not heard Ambition I just don’t have the desire to listen to it. As a listener I want to hear more confidence since he’s so big on himself (which I hate, because I don’t think he embraces that, I feel he says and tries to defend it)

Seth

“I don’t think he embraces that, I feel he says and tries to defend it”– agreed.

Gabriel1028

Wale cant win with the critics and i see the arguments you are making are valid ones but when Wale is discussing about not being popular and liked in More About Nothing he is insecure. When becomes confident in finding who he is as a rapper than he is too arrogant so whatever he does is just not enough for his critics.