J. Cole released his Roc Nation debut last week and the disgruntled fan masses awoke with a myriad of opinions. Critical reception has been lukewarm, but welcome to the new age of Hip-Hop criticism where popular mixtape artists get on with a label and drop turds, since anything less than an effort resembling Reasonable Doubt meets acrimony. Read the rest of this entry »

Although it’s a little on the tardy side, every major-label release deserves at least three videos. Wale completes his trifecta from Attention Deficit with the Rik Cordero-directed, Marsha Ambrosius-featured “Diary.” A common tale of a common situation in today’s relationship sagas. Read the rest of this entry »

Unless TSS is your only source for music & entertainment (as it should be), then you’ve probably heard or seen a video of model/”journalist” Joy Daily lambasting Wale (and Black men as a whole) over his depiction of “pretty girls” for his music video of the same name. Read the rest of this entry »

Since the state still owns Radric Davis‘ ass, Wale gets to keep all the pretty girls for himself as Go-Go gets a much needed national boost with the second single from Attention Deficit. Not that Gucci’s absence is a bad thing since a few models take over his camera time during his 1:20 or so. Lots of bobs, weaves and lip gloss opposed to ashy knuckles, chapped lips and “Lemonade” on the dientes. Read the rest of this entry »

Wale raps, Marsha sings & The Sleepwalkers strip down their original production and the acoustic version is made. Read the rest of this entry »

It was bound to happen. A Black man would take center stage in the urban spotlight to represent the nation’s capital. Yeah, President Obama has the entire country’s eyes on his executive position, but Olubawale Folarin or Wale as he’s much better known, has become D.C.’s Hip-Hop voice as he’s risen to become the city’s most recognizable representative in the particular branch. Read the rest of this entry »

Assuming this is a leftover that didn’t make the album. *Shrugs* I’m adding it to my folder anyways, then to the iPod. Direct from 9th Wonderful via his Twitter. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Soundscan, Attention Deficit sold 28,100 copies last week. In this day and age, when album sales are as tough to pick as the winning lotto numbers it’s hard to gauge what’s a success or failure. But when you come to find out that only 30,000 were shipped it can cause one to stop and scratch their head in puzzlement for a second. So the question needs to be asked whose fault is it.

The chicken (Interscope)? Or the egg (Wale/Attention Deficit)?

“This is my biography. It’s honest. Raw emotion. It’s close to me. That’s why part of me will be a little offended if it doesn’t get heard. I don’t want people to take lack of sales as me taking a hit. This is something different. My label is letting me put out an album with a single that released seven months ago. We’re not going for first week sales. We’re only shipping out 30,000 of them. We’re going for that grind. We’re showing people that you can build a fan base the old fashioned way.” – Wale in  Honey Magazine

Sure “Chillin’” didn’t set the world on fire (although it does get spins), but there wasn’t much more Wale could have done. He’s made countless high profile media appearances & been on tour with Jay-Z for the last few months. I know for a fact that he was touring before that, because I’ve seen him myself twice this summer. He’s put out new material outside of the album and has been featured on other prominent artists’ work. So dude’s done his due diligence in regards to going out and keeping his self in the forefront. Since I don’t have idea on the particulars on his contract, it appears he’s saying the right things about his album being under shipped, because you’d think he’d want units sold to recoup. Or is recouping a thing of the past nowadays?

In my mind, the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the record label. Because if 30,000 is the amount they actually decided to ship out, they severely under shipped it. As it stands, 93% of the copies put out were sold, leaving roughly 1,99 copies on store shelves scattered across the country. I mean, 30,000 copies break down to 600 copies per state. What crackerjack executive had the envious task of diving up where the album went? You’d think they’d be able to sell 30,000 in the DMV area alone. And if they got extra copies, then it’d only makes fewer copies available for everywhere else.

Meaning people probably went out looking for the album and left the store empty-handed. I was not one of them, despite my affinity for the album. I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up multiple albums at a time when the mood strikes instead of running to Best Buy or Target every week. So I can appreciate wanting to keep album sales going week after week. . Hopefully, the old fashioned way will work for Wale & Interscope, but it hasn’t worked out too well for many other recently. Those same people, who didn’t find Attention Deficit, might not be so willing to trek out in search of it again. And that’s were under-shipping could come back to bite you.

First week sales don’t make an album a success or even good. But it’s the one time where (barring an Oprah appearance a week or so after your album release) that anything is possible.  Maybe Interscope played it right and it would’ve sold that amount if they had shipped out 115,000 copies.  We’ll never know now.  If you want to win, you have to play the game. It’s hard to play catch-up when you’ve already dug yourself in a hole.

If you ask Gotty ™ about Wale, he’ll be sure to tell you that he’s been a fan since the kid was kicking freestyles in fifth grade or something.

Me? I was late. I didn’t become a fan until Wale dropped “The Kramer.” It was his ability to take a topic (the “N” word) that was being run to the ground by every rapper with a pulse at the time and add an emotional layer to it that few could put in their songs. Read the rest of this entry »

Like sunshine on a rainy day, behold one of the best verses of the year. More so for formalities, just in case you missed it. Read the rest of this entry »

Perfect time for Chrisette to drop this visual for this remix off her sophomore effort Epiphany. She’s been putting in work since its release touring and promoting, so why not coast a bit and ride on Wale’s coattails as he prepares to release Attention Defecit next week. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s pretty much a done deal that if Attention Deficit hasn’t leaked yet, it will by weekend’s end. Mark my words. Until then, have your way with “Mirrors,” which features Uncle Bun dropping his words of wisdom. Read the rest of this entry »

Since Superbad blew super chunks, Wale’s debut is my last highly anticipated entry for 2009. And while I liked “Fly Away” much better than this Pharrell-assisted chune, I’m still calling this cat the one to watch from XXL’s now infamous Class of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

The word via his Twitter. Not a bad look when you consider it’s only two weeks & the benefit is a slot on tour with Jay & Lupe. Read the rest of this entry »

Can you see what’s going on here? No, not the picture, the music. Read the rest of this entry »