Has Wale Sold Out by Joining Maybach Music? One Fan Weighs In

Wale has had a drastic change in his rap style since joining cahoots with the Maybach Music cast. Some say it's strictly Rick Ross Mafioso rap theme he's conforming to, some speculate his lyrical substance has shifted to more materialistic matters simply to sell records and his soul. From the looks of his career as of current it's probably a combination of both theories. Personally, I respect artists who believe honing their craft is a priority and place financial gain in second place. Of course not all artists think like this and in hip-hop today, wanna-be rappers are as tenaciously thirsty for fame and money as never before.

Prior to late 2010 Wale was often noted as one of the most talented and promising rap freshmen due to the organic hip-hop formatting in his mixtapes and witty lyricism. Even with the mediocre sales success of Attention Deficit his charisma in the booth has never wavered nor dimmed and he even openly acknowledges the miss in his lyrics and promises to hit harder with forthcoming material. Wale has a valid history of dropping fire mixtapes with themes that remain consistent throughout the entire project and I for one fully expected him to keep moving along the path he was so precisely maneuvering....not make a sharp turn left. '

Attention Deficit' was one of the few recent major label debuts from a hip-hop artist that actually resembled the music from the mixtapes that made you a fan. This is true because despite the albums sales figures it was still appraised lyrically and production wise. If one had been a Wale fan prior to “Chillin” it seems that Folarin had major creative control over the project. So what does this say about the approach emerging rappers should take when trying to mix their musical pleasure with business? In Wale’s case we have an innately talented rapper who built a fan base from scratch and failed to expand it with a "lyrical" major label album, but finds himself expanding his mainstream fan base with club features and gangster rap.

What does that say about the market today? This says something rappers have known for a while: stereotype yourself. As a cross-over emcee you have lots of drugs, sex, and count all your cash while you Party and Bullshit but justify these records your’re selling are helping you escape your troubled neighborhood. In the mainstream it is clear that any of these character traits with a huge dollop of personal ego on top result in huge sales figures for artists wishing to debut as a popular sensation. Any one going against the grain is shunned and forced underground. The time is now more crucial than ever for rappers on the come-up to decide exactly who they want to be, How they want to develop into that figure, and what will their performing character consist of (if it will even be a character at all, or the real them). When this blueprint is in place, it is important for them to stick to that agenda because that will most likely keep their music consistent. There’s a difference between musical styles developing or maturing and them changing. Fans do not like being taken on emotional roller-coasters with their artists’ music. As a Wale fan, I would have to say that it seems his musical style has changed since his affiliation with Ross, and not for the best.

“I’m the deep-thinking, spend too much money on sneakers, member of Maybach Music. I’m not out there trying to do what Pill’s doing or Rozay’s doing. I am the deep-thinking, overly analytical–maybe sometimes emotional—but it’s that same emotional as ‘Pac for me…” – COMPLEX

Wale would like to have his cake and eat it too, and I’m not mad. I actually appreciate the effort of portraying himself as versatile and thorough, a chameleon that can change not only his color but his shape as well. He was trying to tell us that he has not changed since aligning himself with MMG, and that he can only be a positive addition to the group and gives them substance. Wale is there to help us feel MMG’s “emotion” behind the cars and the coke. (I guess). But the problem here is that he has not yet achieved this chameleon-like goal, a chameleon having elasticity, Wale is more like a welded metal at this point—frozen within the position it is confined to. He hasn’t spit any verses with Ross that were particularly emotional, insightful, politically charged or told a great story. He would show elasticity if he was Maybach-esque while with MMG but still what we once knew on other features. Instead he carries this similar style everywhere, collaborating with Juicy J, Diamond, Wacka Flocka Flame, Mac Miller and Travis Porter.

To sum up "Self Made" I'd have to say that ironically most of the heavy weight tracks were fails ("2Pac Back", "600 Benz", "I’ma Boss") and the smooth tracks made up the albums highlights ("Self Made", "Rise", "Running Rebels", "That Way"). The Curren$y feature on "Rise" was a refreshing Wiz Khalifa alternative and the better of the Tupac-inspired themes. Also, I was pleased to see I correctly forecasted my favorite Maybach Music tracks so far, “Play Ya Part” and “Pandemonium” would make the album.

However, one thing that remained consistent through the album’s high and low points is that Wale delivered and held his own each time, often times the standout along Meek Mill. He started off the album on a strong note, jumping into the go-go groove on the intro track with a pretty energetic verse, Tedra Moses lovely vocals trailing not too far behind the whole time. Let’s just say 600 Benz is the exact reason I was against Wale teamin up with Ross in the first place. The beat was totally predictable and since it was one of the first leaks, it set up everyone for disappointment purely based on it's title.

This also applies to Fitted Cap, however Ross gets more heat for this one: Maybach Music is a quickly up and coming new rap 'brand' per se... And they make an ode to the most over-indulged in swag by young men... Recycled snap backs and J’s! Since this isn't usually brought up in most of Ross’ songs but randomly appears on his new album makes it seem like a desperate attempt for a quick radio come up. As far as Wale is concerned this track doesn't hurt him, it does more good than bad, since he is also given as much praise for his shoe game as his flows. Wale, out of the MMG lineup was most fit for the track but J. Cole had the best verse, stealing the show as he often does when alongside Wale.

The R&B track That Way is a potential radio hit, especially with Jerimih crooning the female flattering hook, seeing mainstream success is something the singer hasn’t had much trouble reaching since he stepped on the scene. This song still didn't do Wale himself much justice lyrically on the R&B tip this time around as he did in Diary for instance, where the lyrics were beautiful, insightful and empathetic and his delivery was noticeably passionate. Even his “Remake of a Remake (All I Need)” had more soul than That Way. The truth is that this song that way had other elements besides Wale that made it good like the hook, and even the melody’s familiar sample will have first time listeners nodding. Let’s not forget to mention Rick Ross’ name credibility when it comes to radio-friendly R&B-infused-Rap. SelfMade basically ended on the same note it started in the outro “Running Rebels”, Wale most comfortable flowing over the percussion he’s used to. Big-ups to Stalley on a dope guest feature!

Looking at Wale’s journey from beginning to where he is now, he was steadily developing musically and it seems like sincerely aligning himself with an entity like Maybach Music Group is like him hitting a wall. Maybe not financially, but it seems like he rhymes around the same subjects in circles now days. Album breakdowns and reviews of Attention Deficit were generally okay, everyone loved Mixtape About Nothing and I still play something off of More About Nothing every other day, so what the hell is the problem here!? The problem is that Wale’s career is still young and maybe we are judging him too harshly too quickly. He barely came out with an album with MMG and people were jumping all over him. The point is that greatness doesn’t happen overnight and the most successful artists have made mistakes starting out before their career fully flourished commercially and capital-wise. For instance, look at how much trouble a lot of Death Row artists went through with the label, and look at their success now. I’m not saying Rozay is the new Suge Knight, but I’m saying life gave Wale lemons and he made lemonade. In the middle of Wale’s verse on “Running Rebels” this line caught me:
“baby I’m in the zone, lately been writin poems, can’t put my soul into this bullshit music ya’ll condone”

So. ….maybe there IS hope!!! How about let’s not condone it? I really don’t recommend boycotting the album, there is some bangers, and lets do it for Wale. Maybe he'll come back to us after all.

(For more dope hip-hop analysis and much more be sure to follow @breezeJwoods.)