Wale - "Letters"

Wale (he who would like you to know it's pronounced wah-lay, not whale) finally has his debut album coming out after a string of mixtapes, most notably Mixtape About Nothing and Back to the Feature. While Attention Deficit is set to drop on November 10 (via Interscope), the Mark Ronson-produced "Letter" was just leaked, and yes... that's John Mayer's "3x5." That's the sample they went with. (sigh) The song is surprisingly good considering that Wale decided dropping just a lyric or verse about President Obama wasn't enough, otping instead to devote a whole song to him. Oh yeah, and that John Mayer hook. Jesus.

What We're Listening To

Wale: "Hot Shyt" [feat. Peedi Crakk, Black Thought, 2Face, and Young Chris]
Whoa... this track is unbelievable, and although you'd think that at 5 verses, "Hot Shyt" might be long and overbearing, it's machine-gun like quickness prevents you from doing anything other than hitting the rewind button. Just a great track by Wale and his friends from Philly.


Bowerbirds: "Northern Lights"
This has been circulating for a while now, and it's quite possibly the prettiest song we've heard this year. If it sounds like it was written during a warm, summer night in the Appalachians, well then it very well might've been.
MP3:> Bowerbirds: "Northern Lights"

BBU: "Chi Don't Dance"
BBU stands for Bin Laden Blowin' Up. Now that we have that out of the way, enjoy this infectious proclamation of dance refusal... for those stubborn kids in Chicago won't do it. Juke? Yes. Dance? Hell no.
MP3:> BBU: "Chi Don't Dance"

Free Energy: "Dream City"
If I have to wait for an indefinite amount of time for another LCD Soundsystem album, then I guess I'll have to do with this fantastic band James Murphy just signed to his DFA label. "Dream City" is a throwback, and it's just in time for summer.
MP3:> Free Energy: "Dream City"

Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson: "Winter Song"
This week's most popular audition song for lyrical/contemporary dancers on SYTYCD is actually a Christmas song, but because it's so pretty we'll let it permeate our springtime tunes. Bonus trivia: This song was also performed on another show featured on GSATW - any guesses?


Jason Wade: "You Belong to Me"
Some of my college friends and I like to play a little game called "If I were on American Idol what would I sing?" Since Idol is over, it's time to spread the love to SYTYCD. If I were to audition for the show this year I would definitely choose this tune from the Shrek soundtrack. It's acoustic, sweet and totally evokes emotion that would totally win over Nigel and Mary. Send me straight to Vegas!!

Happy Saturday

This is pretty old, but it combines two of my favorite things: Wale rapping and Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." This is off Wale's mixtape 100 Miles And Runnin, a very solid preview to his amazing Mixtape About Nothing. You might need to listen to "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." a couple of times to catch all the metaphors and witty lyrics (ex. "I acquire more broads than Zach Morris"). Oh yeah, and the video is pretty cool too!

2 of 25: Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing

On its surface, the premise sounds ridiculous: unsigned (but well-established) D.C. rapper creates mixtape based on Seinfeld. But any doubts about the quality or direction of the album are quelled in "The Opening Title Sequence," where Wale spells out exactly what this mixtape is about ("most rappers love nothin', so I made this tape") while waxing poetic about "ringtone rappers," music sales/leaks in the era of piracy, and the credit crisis. All over a beat using the theme music from that television show about... nothing.

Being a mixtape, there are some fillers that probably wouldn't make the cut on a true album, but really... it's pretty lean. You won't find a lot of tracks that don't offer either great beats, great hooks, or incredible lyrics, and most often it's a combo of all three. Wale offers up a ton of highlights throughout this mixtape: from Julia Louis-Dreyfus making a guest drop at the end of "The Vacation From Ourselves," to besting Jay-Z on his own "Roc Boys" hook, to breaking down an entire verse of the fast-paced "The Chicago Falcon Remix," to an unending stream of one-liners that rival anything you'll hear on the radio or otherwise (ex. "good rappers ain't eatin', they Olsen Twinnin' it").

But if you listen to just ONE THING from this album, please make it "The Kramer." Starting with the infamous Michael Richards racial epithet-outburst at a comedy club a few years ago, Wale dissects the implications of using the words "nigga" and "bitch" in rap lyrics over a "Jesus Walks"-eque beat. By this point, we realize that The Mixtape About Nothing is really a mixtape about a lot of things... relationships, race, the economy, sports, getting drunk/high, go-go music (well, you get the point). Maybe its a coincidence that Wale chose Seinfeld, which doesn't feature a major African American character, as the "inspiration" for his mixtape. But I doubt it.

Link: http://www.10deep.com/WALEMIXTAPE/

PS. If you want to get to the other albums, you have to email me or Audra to get the link. Don't miss out!!