When talking about the new mixtape, Wale called it “a rapping tape.” He said that his early mixtapes were just a young him trying to get heard, Mixtape About Nothing was proving he could do a concept tape and 100 Miles and Runnin’ was him being a little crazy. Back to the Feature is by far the best of his tapes, and does not disappoint any notion of a rapping tape. Anyone who may have been worried that Wale was becoming too pop upon hearing the single for his album (although I was never worried) need not look further than BTTF for proof he can still bring it.
9/10
Lyrics: Wale’s lyrics are what make his music so enjoyable to me; his word play and metaphors are usually clever and impressive. If you listen to his music, you have probably realized that Wale is a huge sports fan; he references an incredible amount of sports and not just the most popular players. I have definitely caught references to NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, track and field, college sports and even ESPN commentators (*cough* Skip Bayless *cough*). I think Wale keeps up his lyricism and proves that he definitely has something to bring to the table in the hip-hop game. I will give an example of some of his lyrics that I personally loved, but there are great lines on each and every song. “The war’s in the form of poetry/ so its straight c4 from the thoughts I bring/ bang! epiphany/ these n****s is gimmicks to me/ I can eradicate a village if you give me a beat/ I’m that bomb when I hand write/ play me for a stepping stone, then, I land mine.” His ability to maintain the metaphor of poetry and words being weapons and war is incredible. He uses double meanings of words such as land mine (getting his own vs. an explosive landmine), all the while rhyming AA for 6 bars then BB for another 2. Not to mention they are not simple rhymes, ending the line with a multi-syllabic phrase many times throughout. And as if Wale’s ability wasn’t enough, this mixtape has more sick features than most people can get on an album. The co-signs from the likes of known greats such as: Freeway, Talib Kweli, Joe Budden, Black Thought, Jean Grae, Royce Da 5’9” and Bun B shows much respect for Wale. He also brings fellow young’uns: Skyzoo, Young Chris, Curren$y, K’naan and Big Sean. No matter what type of hip-hop you like, someone from that style is contributing to this mixtape somewhere.
10/10
Overall: On the song Tito Santana Wale subtitles the mixtape “N****s just be rappin’” and I can definitely attest to that. Wale just finished a tour throughout the US and he hasn’t even released an album yet! As I said earlier, for anyone who was afraid he was becoming too pop, this tape proves he can hang with anyone on the track. I did not go into as much detail on a song-by-song basis because I think that across the board, all of the tracks are great and they go very well with each other when it is played all the way through. This tape has many different types of songs and sounds, making Wale’s different influences very evident. There are pop-infused songs featuring artists like Mike Posner, Daniel Merriweather, Duffy and Yael Naim. But Wale travels with a band named UCB and the impact that growing up in the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) and listening to Go-Go has had on him can be heard on Night Life & Sweatin Out Weaves. Even with “soft” type songs, I think a level of credibility and expectations are met throughout the tape and should be enjoyed until we finally do have Attention Deficit (Wale’s soon to be released studio album). While the album is in no way perfect:
10/10.
Tom
June 25, 2009
solid
Christy
June 25, 2009
sweet
Armani
June 25, 2009
thats a good look for you dude, keep blogging, I like the review.
BUshbaby
June 25, 2009
co sign 100% wale killed the tape
samega
June 25, 2009
cannot wait for attention: deficit to drop. this kid is gon be huge, like it or not.
Anonymous
June 25, 2009
Hey there,
It's Hillary from RCRD LBL. Nice site you got! I like your review too. If you want to drop me a line email me at hillary@rcrdlbl.com and I'll hit you back if you have questions I can answer.
K. Scribe
June 25, 2009
benJamin,
def. a nice start, I can tell you're still developing your writer's "voice" and that's beautiful, just never be able to share what you think, and the words will guide you. I also write for http://www.thecouchsessions.com and my own personal blog, http://www.theproseofarhythmscribe.com. hit me up anytime at kdotscribe@gmail.com, maybe we can share advice!
Alecks V.
June 25, 2009
Loving the new Wale Ben, thanks for the review and heads up.
Jamie
June 28, 2009
The guest spots are what make this mixtape weaker than what I was expecting. Wale is a talented emcee, most of the cats he have featured on this one, are not, and take the caliber down.
Next time, Wale needs to stay as far away from the feature as possible.
Mike DMV
July 1, 2009
damn, you have a great review style. you should definitely review the new mixtape by Ti'Jean at http://www.iAmHipRock.com
He's from the DMV just like Wale but totally different style. Amazing artist primed to get DC on the hiphop map.
Benja
July 5, 2009
thanks to everyone,
and mike dmv, i downloaded the mixtape ill be listening sometime this week
thanks for teh recomendation