Wale Been in the Game for Almost a Decade without a Definitive Sound/Style

[GoldenGlove]

Let me preface this by saying... this is not a Wale hate thread. This is more of an observation.

I've been rocking with Wale's music since his mixtape days. Back in like 06, 07. I remember hearing Mixtape About Nothing and being pulled in by the sounds, the lyrics, the concepts... the creativity of the project. I really thought he was going to be great, or at least make an impact from a creativity standpoint in the hiphop genre.

Now, roughly 10 years later, with countless albums and mixtapes and features under his belt, I can honestly say, that this dude's career has been pretty aimless. Typically with artists who have been doing music for this amount of time, they find a groove or a style of their own and improve on it and perfect it.

I listen to Wale's new music and I just shake my head. I don't understand why he's gone down this route, but it appears like he's obsessed with making commercial records for success/fame and appeal. He came in the class with Kendrick, Cole, Big Sean, Drake etc... why is he doing songs like this at this point in his career?





WHY is Wale featuring G-Eazy on a song in 2017? What is the play here? I can't imagine any of the guys he came in the game with dropping a single featuring G-Eazy on it.



Seriously... I honestly don't get it. I understand that Shine is aimed to be a light spirited fun album. But breh... My PYT and Running Back >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> this Fashion Week song, and those songs are damn near a year old.

I wish this dude would have just stayed true to himself and stuck to the poetic/heartfelt pro black music he was on from time to time. It's like he doesn't know what is best to push for himself from a marketing standpoint... to be the spoken word clever uplifting MC or the cliche brash rich and famous commercial MC.

It's funny cause, look at all the praise and attention Kendrick Lamar got from his natural sisters line/stretch marks bars on Humble... Wale has been on that for years, but it seems like he doesn't even want to push that message as his main vision for himself.



Why not push this instead of that corny G-Eazy shyt? Wale and HipHop fans chime in...

 

[ISO]

Maybe Wale fukks with G Eazy

 

[GoldenGlove]

Maybe Wale fukks with G Eazy

...or is Wale trying to tap into G-Eazy's fanbase? The song ain't even hot, I just don't get it

 

[blizzard man]

i feel like wales definitive style is his songs for the females

i dunno if thats a sound, but every time wale drops, he seems to do ok cuz he got that lady centric single that the natural sisters get down with

sound wise tho, i feel you, but i feel like his style is very well solified, its just in an area that we arent the demographic for

 

[Pop123]

Words can't express how much I hate hearing this man's voice on First Take all the time,

 

[GoldenGlove]

i feel like wales definitive style is his songs for the females

i dunno if thats a sound, but every time wale drops, he seems to do ok cuz he got that lady centric single that the natural sisters get down with

sound wise tho, i feel you, but i feel like his style is very well solified, its just in an area that we arent the demographic for

Even your description isn't clear on his music.

He makes songs for the ladies, I get that, but none of these songs sound any particular way. It feels like he's reaching for something with every release that he'll never get... and if you're doing that, how do you NOT improve on it? Are any of his ladies singles better than Lotus Flower Bomb or Bad with Tiara Thomas?

 

[UpAndComing]

I just can't get through any of his albums. Dude sounds like he's gargling peanut butter

 

[blizzard man]

Even your description isn't clear on his music.

He makes songs for the ladies, I get that, but none of these songs sound any particular way. It feels like he's reaching for something with every release that he'll never get... and if you're doing that, how do you NOT improve on it? Are any of his ladies singles better than Lotus Flower Bomb or Bad with Tiara Thomas?

you know what breh, i feel like i kinda agree with you. but yeah, i dont know what 'sound' hes going for, but maybe the songs for the ladies is bigger than nailing down a particular sound, thats why all his shyt sounds different, but is always some sort of female empowerment ballad at its core

i agree though, i kinda feel like wale wanna be lumped in with the great MCs, but hasnt figured out that by making continual lotus flower bombs, aint no one gonna put his name in the discussion.

that being said, he does have prolly plenty of bar-fest joints i aint heard, but every time i hear a lead single for a new wale project its something super soft so i just assume the album is for the ladies and ill catch him on the next go round.

itd be dope to hear wale just making whatever the fukk he literally wants to make tho, at this point.

but if 'whatever the fukk he literally wants to make, is 'fashion week'' then

he aint gotta sit in a cubicle all day, so he doin something right

 

[GoldenGlove]

Also... does anybody know if the ORIGINAL video for MY PYT is anywhere online?

The one where he had snapchap footage of girls on their phones singing the song? I thought that was a genius idea that he could have transitioned into a marketing strategy for that song, but he later on deleted the video off of Youtube and then re-released an entirely different version of it.

 

[Yaddam Yussein]

Dude has the same formula every album and wonders why he isn't mentioned in the top tier of new school rappers. Plus his voice is annoying.

 

[GoldenGlove]

you know what breh, i feel like i kinda agree with you. but yeah, i dont know what 'sound' hes going for, but maybe the songs for the ladies is bigger than nailing down a particular sound, thats why all his shyt sounds different, but is always some sort of female empowerment ballad at its core

i agree though, i kinda feel like wale wanna be lumped in with the great MCs, but hasnt figured out that by making continual lotus flower bombs, aint no one gonna put his name in the discussion.

that being said, he does have prolly plenty of bar-fest joints i aint heard, but every time i hear a lead single for a new wale project its something super soft so i just assume the album is for the ladies and ill catch him on the next go round.

itd be dope to hear wale just making whatever the fukk he literally wants to make tho, at this point.

but if 'whatever the fukk he literally wants to make, is 'fashion week'' then

he aint gotta sit in a cubicle all day, so he doin something right

Yeah, he has a lot of great songs/lines, I was just talking about the dude today with my bro after he linked me this Fashion Week song. I just

Like I said, he honestly has had some concepts and ideas for songs/topics that have been great/genius, but I'm starting to wonder if he even believes in them? Because he ALWAYS opts to go the safe route when promoting an album, and by safe I mean, the typical R&B/Rap song with someone on the hook, and something lite for women.

 

[blizzard man]

Yeah, he has a lot of great songs/lines, I was just talking about the dude today with my bro after he linked me this Fashion Week song. I just

Like I said, he honestly has had some concepts and ideas for songs/topics that have been great/genius, but I'm starting to wonder if he even believes in them? Because he ALWAYS opts to go the safe route when promoting an album, and by safe I mean, the typical R&B/Rap song with someone on the hook, and somebody lite for women.

maybe he dont trust his own gut or something

or maybe he trust it too much and people around him are giving him major keys hes ignoring

we'll never know

 

[GoldenGlove]

The way he connected Seinfeld to this and put the concept together on the song was why I became a fan... I just smh at the corny shyt he chooses to release for the masses while suppressing his real creative shyt like this... he does it all the time too

 

[Notorious 1 E.Y.E.]

he had something with his seinfeld tapes.... then decided not to go that rout for hid albums

 

[SirBiatch]

Trashe