Wale-The Gifted

     Since 2008 (2007 if you're a staunch purist) Wale has been trying to gain national exposure, become The DMV's greatest export AND be number 1 on EVERYONE'S Top 5 list. Considering the current climate of today's Rap...one would have to know that many of us suffer from "Attention Deficit" in some form so it be would be really hard for some of us to recognize his "Ambition". Even after he gave himself with "Folarin".... Would the entire Hip-Hop community be able to accept "The Gifted"?
       The Gifted opens up with the serviceable "The Curse Of The Gifted". Here he proceeds to lament on the price of fame and how his gift will help propel him and his people above it all. After I was done yawning...I was able to hear the musicality behind it and I was pleased with the lush sounds.  I went to the liner notes and I noticed that Stokley Williams was heavily involved. For the uninformed..Stokley Williams is the lead singer and percussionist of the sorely underrated and understated band Mint Condition (Youngins please look them up, they're dope trust me). Any who, realizing that he was involved in some capacity made me optimistic if for nothing else..the Production(Live Instrumentation) would be stellar.
     "Sunshine" continues the Stokley collaboration to great effect....I would have been totally satisfied with just that beat, hook and the rising crescendo ad libs from Williams himself. Wale does his best to make the song his own but I personally just wish he wasn't on it. "Heaven's Afternoon" gives me the same feeling...Meek Mill surprisingly steals the show with his guest verse and with Williams' background riffs, bridges, and beat...completely drowns out Wale...again. A quarter through the album and I've already conceded the fact that this is a Stokley Williams and Friends experimental side project.
      "Golden Salvation"  never really goes anywhere. The whole Jesus(Religious) dichotomy concept is being sorely overused right now. Let me be clear...EVERYONE is entitled to his/her belief and his totally allowed to express it in their music, BUT you don't have make it sound so forced and contrived. "Vanity" is the direct opposite of the the first 5 songs. Whereas those songs sounded organic and lively, this song its lifeless and hollow and industrial in scope, but I supposed that was the whole point considering the title.
     It seems that Wale realizes that misstep and immediately enlist Cee-Lo and Williams once again to tell us that we're all "Gullible"....Cool song..but it would have been an AWESOME Cee-Lo/Stokley/Dap Kings collabo. "Bricks" is another song that could have gone somewhere but fails to do so...A deliberate attempt at radio and 106 and Park. To make matters worse "Clappers" is an EVEN MORE deliberate 106 and Park and the club. I doubt the target audience will notice the interpolation of the song being that it was "DA BUTT" get it?...Do The Right Thing...Spike Lee...DC..GO-GO...nevermind.
     The next grouping of songs are the Mmmmmmmaybach Music portion of the set. Take it with a grain of salt people, Wale is signed to Rozay, did you really think he would have ANY input on the record or at the very least show up on a record or two? Ne-Yo has a forgettable cameo on "Tired of Dreaming" and sadly that is the highlight of the song Tisk...Tisk....Tisk. At the risk of sounding repetitive, both Ne-Yo and Ross outshine Wale and he sounds like he's featured on his own song.
          Wale closes out the album with Stokley Williams and Seinfeld on "Black Heroes" and the "Outro About Nothing" respectively. I think Jerry Seinfeld sums up the album perfectly. He goes on to blast Wale about what album this is. Saying things like "I thought We Were Doing The Album today" "Who is in charge of  this?" "Ok I guess I'll come back when you're ready". Couldn't have said it better myself  Jerry.
       In the end this is not The Album About Nothing...this is the tale of 3 albums in one. The first 5 songs are great material from Stokley and Friends...The next 5 are the Maybach Sessions, and the last 5 are used to round out the rest of the project to make it somewhat respectable. For the die hard Wale fans out there, this album will satisfy you immensely. The casual listener will love the singles. As for me...I take the first five tracks and combine them with the Folarin mixtape(minus Bad) and that will be my Wale experience for the rest of 2013.