Wale kills his haters with kindness on “Heaven’s Afternoon”: “Dream killers out, I see them in the rear/Before I put them in a song, put them in a prayer.”Īnd speaking of prayer, there have been a ton of recent hip hop releases sprinkled with religious allegories ( Game, J. “Bricks” shows the other side of the trife life, pointing out that desperate times call for desperate measures – those illegal activities can be the foundation for hope. “Gullible” drips with conspiracy theories that don’t sound all that far far-fetched, in light of the NSA monitoring. It’s the only time Wale is truly upstaged. The remix with Rihanna is also featured here, but the original version with Tiara Thomas sounds much more authentic, squeaky bed and all. It’s not just trap cliches and tales of opulence, it’s topical music all of Wale’s listeners can relate to.įirst single “Bad” oozes with honestly from the eyes of a bad girl. Sean C and LV’s soulful production set the tone for the first half of the album, which speaks on various aspects of American life. Wale says it best on the album intro, “Curse of the Gifted,” y’all don’t even gotta love him, but you will respect his hustle. Even among more than a dozen guest stars, Wale usually shines brightest. They make a formidable combination.īut don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t one of those “Best of Both Worlds” collabo albums.
Still, Williams’ soulful background vocals and lush production are the foundation of Wale’s third studio album. Well, that might be a slight overstatement. Wale needs to mail all royalty checks from this album to Mint Condition’s Stokley Williams. The Gifted (to be released June 25, 2013)