Walker “Tre” Johnson, Wale’s longtime friend, frequent collaborator, and founder and former front man of the go-go band UCB, was an early believer in the rapper’s genius. super producer Mark Ronson, who inked him a production deal on his label Allido Records. His hustle soon caught the attention of U.K. Over the course of two years, he released three mixtapes-2005’s Paint a Picture, 2006’s Hate is the New Love, and 2007’s 100 Miles and Running. Two of his songs-“Rhyme of the Century” and “Dig Dug (Shake It)”-gleaned spins on local radio. It was during this time that Wale began to build up his name in his native city of D.C.-and beyond. rappers that achieved mainstream success-like DJ Kool, who crafted the 1996 hit “Let Me Clear My Throat,” and Nonchalant who released “5 o’clock” that same year-but hip-hop in the District had always taken a back seat to the city’s native go-go scene.īy the early 2000s, the south had a stronghold on hip-hop in the same way that New York and the West Coast had on it in the ’90s. Of course, there had been a handful of D.C. But The Mixtape About Nothing was not only a defining moment in the rapper’s ascent, it also forcefully shed a spotlight on D.C.’s hip-hop scene, which had long stood in the shadows of other established rap metropolises. Themed mixtapes were basically unheard of at the time, especially one based on the hit TV show Seinfeld, which wasn’t remotely connected to hip-hop culture. Don't wait around for Wale's debut studio album, this is his arrival right here.Ten years ago this month, a young rapper by the name of Wale released a mixtape that, at the time, was something of an oddity for D.C.’s nascent rap scene. But there are so many great rhymes here, and Wale's flow on top of the go-go funk-flavoured beats is astounding. How can that still stand when Wale's free Mixtape About Nothing is as good as or better than almost every full cost hip-hop album in years? Wale is eminently likeable because he doesn't take himself too seriously despite the obvious intelligence behind his lines: in The Kramer, Wale's brilliant deconstruction of how the N-word is used is followed later, in The Chicago Falcon Remix, by the throwaway "I hate rap like Kramer hates blacks". The previously understood definition saw the mixtape as a low cost buzz builder, an excuse to freestyle in-between the real work, while the studio album was the fully committed artistic document. His Seinfeld-themed Mixtape About Nothing has changed the game, raising the bar of what can be expected from a mixtape. Lil Wayne might be the reigning king of the mixtape, but Washington DC rapper Wale (pronounced Wah-lay) must be next in line for the throne.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |