Today, so many of these new rappers are able to find instant stardom. It happens so quickly that you never see it coming. Wale's quick rise to stardom shouldn't really surprise anyone. Prior to inking a deal with Maybach Music Group, very few people knew of Wale. Those that did know only knew mostly because of his first ever single "Chillin", in which really Lady Gaga's feature drew the attention to that song and him. It wasn't until the deal when Wale was able to find instant commercial success. Churning out hit after hit becoming a household name in the process. Well here he is with another installment of hits. His third album The Gifted. Now for me his best work was his 2009 debut Attention Deficit. On there he was lyrical, he was deep, he was poetic and creative. But when he released his 2011 sophomore effort Ambition (which was right after the MMG signing) that's where things went left for me. Ambition was a major disappointment for me. A huge decline from his debut. Too many terrible attempts at radio hits, too many R&B features which lead to soft Drake-like songs, and dumbed down lyrics. It seemed to me he let the fame and popularity take over him that quickly. I understand that when you get a major deal you're music will change a bit but this was a change of disastrous proportions. Then him denying it on the album ("fuck money, fuck fame") didn't make it anymore better as you could clearly tell that's bullshit. It was as if the two albums were done by two complete different artists. It's for all these reasons why my expectations for The Gifted were kinda low. Well after listening to it, my expectations were met. This album was just below average for me. Only slightly better than Ambition. Just slightly. However there are many similarities between the two. I feel like his flow and lyrics are getting more and more dumbed down. That was really the number one case with this album. Even on the songs where he tried to sound deep and poetic he still sounded dumbed down (which I will address later). Plus what is up with those awkward breaks or pauses he takes in between some bars? It's like he filling spots where he couldn't think of any more lyrics with pauses and ad-libs. The production on this was quite bland considering the number of radio attempts on here. Ambition may have had the better production and I didn't even like those beats either. I'll start with some of the few things I like. If I had to pick a favorite track it would probably be "Heaven's Afternoon". This is the first time in a while that I've heard a trap beat with a interesting sample done right. It might be the high pitched violin strings in it that truly brings the song to life. It was the only song that I actually repeated after the first listen. Meek Mill really wasn't needed on there either. Would have been a lot better if it was just Wale. The following track "Golden Salvation (Jesus Piece)" was okay. He tried for a religious topic hear but despite the fact that he didn't quite nail it that good, the beat and the overall sound was alright. Lyrically the intro track "The Curse Of The Gifted" was the best song on here. There were some parts where he addressed some of the responses to his last album and claiming that he sold out for fame. Though he talked about it the sound of his voice seemed like he wasn't phased by it all but I think deep down he was. Now the things that I didn't like. The second single "Clappers" was just...borderline awful. I can't even express in words how bad this was. Wale needs to never make an attempt at a twerk song again. Terrible verses from both Juicy J and especially Nicki Minaj. Now the first single "Bad" I'm still on the fence about but the remix is just terribly bad (no pun intended). Rihanna sounds nowhere near as good as Tiara Thomas on the original version. Then the fact that she tried rapping on it made it much worse. I can't tolerate her singing sometimes and she had to nerve to rap. "Rotation" was a total snooze fest. It sounded like him, Wiz Khalifa, 2 Chainz, all three of them rolled out of bed and walked in the booth rapping half sleep. Some of the most laziest, tired verses and lyrics I've ever heard on one song. Sad because that song had a potential to be good. Now I prayed he wouldn't do the unthinkable on this album and guess what...he did it on "Vanity". Singing on auto-tune. Not good. Wale does not have the talent or voice to do this. Terrible song. "Tired Of Dreaming" is him channeling his inner Drake again. The beat kinda makes it halfway listenable but the issue is it sounds like it could be another single. Which only means yet another simping R&B radio song from Wale. Ne-Yo was okay on the hook but Rick Ross was seriously not needed. Just like on the hit from his last album "That Way". Please stop putting Ross on these love songs. On "Gullible" I see what he was trying to do as far as the topic. People believing everything the media throws at them and all of that jazz. The problem is he didn't tackle this head on. I mentioned this in the beginning that because his flow and lyrics sound so mainstream now you can't even take him serious when he's trying to kick knowledge. This song was too jumpy and happy. It should have had a more serious tone and sounded more deep and poetic. A good concept ruined. My final analysis overall is that this album was not all that good. It's really on the same level as Ambition minus a few things. I give it a final grade of a C-. I fully understand Wale's sudden change in music sound, because of the MMG deal. But I can't be the only one that misses Attention Deficit Wale. I'm sure Wale is a smart guy. He should be able to balance his lyrical poetic side with his mainstream side. Instead he just let's the mainstream fame consume him to where he reaches on these albums for a commercial sound. Hopefully, he can find that balance because at this rate, it's gonna get worse and worse. End.
Final Grade: C-
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