1st Listen: Wale "The Album About Nothing"

      There has been a lot of hype surrounding Wale's latest project (partially due to his friendship and the placement of Seinfeld throughout the album).  When you add that to the fact that I'm actually a Wale fan, it's easy to understand why my expectations for "The Album About Nothing" were extremely high.  Before we get into what was on the album, let me briefly talk about what I hoped was on there.  I simply hoped to hear great lyrics, a little bit of the DMV go-go sound, some poetry, Seinfeld with some comedic words of wisdom and a little of that MMG influence.  Sounds simple, right?  Did he meet the expectations I had?  Well, let's go ahead and get into this 1st Listen.

      "The Album About Nothing" starts off with a brief interaction between Wale and Seinfeld, followed immediately by a nice, mellow, piano driven intro track in which Wale spits the poetry I was hoping he would. So, already something was marked off of my musical expectation list. In my opinion, it was a very good way to get things going.  Great album intros don't necessarily mean a great album, so I was ready to see what else was in store. I'll admit, when I first heard Seinfeld would be on the album, I didn't really know how it would work out, but the more I listened, the more comfortable I became with the concept.

     
     It became evident early on that Jerry would serve as a guide as we traveled through the depth's of Wale's mind.  We all know Seinfeld is a smart guy, but I did not expect him to throw out so many words of wisdom that I could relate to.  For example, in the song "The Success," Jerry says "The worst thing is when you get comfortable, that's why success is the enemy." To me, if I hadn't heard him say it, I could have easily believed that was a line from one of the old school gangster movies (like Scarface). Who knows? Maybe he got it from something like that and I'm not aware, but either way, I thought it was brilliant.  Another jewel he dropped was on the song "Matrimony" feat. Usher.  He was speaking to Wale about marriage.  Wale basically asked him even if you plan your wedding, can you actually be ready for marriage.  Jerry replied, "It's like any growth, you can't be ready for it because it's growth. It's gonna be new, you're gonna have a new life, you're gonna be a new person." That was wonderfully said.

      Although Seinfeld was dropping words of wisdom as if they were breadcrumbs in the forest helping Wale find his way home, and I appreciated them, they were not why I really wanted to hear the album. There's a fine line between great placement of conversations and clips from the iconic show and that line was walked perfectly.  They did not take away from the messages and lyrics Wale was trying to get across to his audience. In fact, they were so well placed that they really did add to them. Also, it didn't change at all who we know Wale to be, as a rapper.  As a fan of Wale, I know he's not the type of rapper to let you know everything that's going on in his "real" life.  In fact, he'll convey the fact that he wants people to just leave him alone sometimes.  The song "Middle Finger" was that song.  To me, Wale made a song which would have been very comfortable on a Kid Cudi album, (which is a compliment because I'm a fan of his work as well).  You can hear that he craves to be the best, but doesn't want to sacrifice his individualism, and you can't really fault him for that.

     The last song I'll point out individually is "Glass Egg."  This song was about how carefully you must be when you're trying to make it to the proverbial mountain top of whatever your field is, and how things may change if/when you get there. Wale said sometimes he's left wondering "if those around you are actually for you, who's on your back or who's got your back?"  Similar thoughts have probably crossed our minds at one time or another.  Wale isn't scared to say what he's thinking, regardless of how people who hear his music may take it.  That's one of the reasons I'm a fan.  He says things we all can relate to, no matter how much money we have.  The same cannot be said for the content of most of the rappers out there.

      I could go on and speak more about the album, but I want to have more time to sit and listen to it. Wale says a lot of clever lines and I want to make sure I catch them all.  So, overall what did I think of the album?  It had everything I was hoping it would: poetry, lyrics, MMG influence (listen to the 2nd part of "Helium Balloon"), go-go (on "The Bloom") and Seinfeld gave away a boatload of wisdom. The overall flow and fluidity of the album was great, which made it almost like an audio book.  In case you can't tell, I like the album and I think you will too.   Well, at least that's my opinion after the 1st listen.

Concept art for "The Album About Nothing" via Jack Gambro Design.

Tracks

1. The Intro About Nothing
2. The Helium Balloon
3. The White Shoes
4. The Pessimist
5. The Middle Finger
6. The One Time In Houston
7. The Girls On Drugs
8. The God Smile
9. The Need To Know
10. The Success
11. The Glass Egg
12. The Bloom (AG3)
13. The Matrimony
14. The Body