Wale occupies a strange liminal in the hip-hop landscape. He’s worked frequently with the straight up gangster-rap guys like Rick Ross and is as equally chummy with ballers as Drizzy and Hove. But for a member of a sub-culture so concerned with being cool, Wale has always openly embraced his quirks and idiosyncrasies – his music has reflected this complexity and three-dimensionality. His latest effort, The Album About Nothing, does just that. It would be easy to dismiss Nothing as just another commercialised art-hop album (think Kid Cudi or Wiz Khalifa), with all the inoffensive samples and ostensibly detached vocals. The record is perhaps even more susceptible to this treatment thanks to the recent release to universal acclaim of contemporary Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly, which is about as get-your-elbows-in-Van-Gogh-style and impressively outside-the-box as hip-hop gets. But to do so would be to overlook Wale’s own story and the way in which he invests himself into his work.
Where most rappers focus on money, weed, ‘pussy’ and other material goods, on Nothing Wale instead chooses to take a bird’s-eye view, reflecting on love, loss and what he presumably sees as the destitution of his genre. ”Gotta be the realest, society y’all trippin” mocks Wale on ‘The Middle Finger’ before repeatedly insisting ”Fuck you, leave me alone”. Then Seinfeld chips in with the reprimand ”aware of everything, paying attention to one thing”. Wale’s saying something here that has needed saying for some time; American culture’s relationship with rap and hip-hop has increasingly become a caricature of itself. Nobody does hand-wringing like the D.C native. Except maybe Larry David, obviously…
Wale has opened up recently about his girlfriend’s miscarriage and his ensuing struggles with drugs and depression after this personal tragedy. And one of the strengths of Nothing is the way it embodies a sense of rueful nostalgia and almost placid comfort amongst all the usual production paraphernalia. On the hammocked ‘The White Shoes’ the nurturing line ”you’ll be alright” is probably directed as much at Wale himself as much as the character in the track. ”You still my nigga”, he says to God on ‘The God Smile’ – through everything hurled at him, Wale has retained the tongue-in-cheek irony and black humour that has always made him such an original and interesting lyricist. When he does return to more familiar subject territory, such as ‘The Girls On Drugs’, which features an irresistible sample and groove reminiscent of Justice’s ‘D.A.N.C.E’ blended with ‘Get Lucky’, he does so with the same wit and SMH disdain. If there’s a glaring criticism of Nothing then it would probably be that the knock-out cuts are too few and far between.
But maybe that’s the point. The clips of Seinfeld heard interceding the tracks aren’t actually clips at all – they’re in fact recordings of the man himself made specifically to narrate the album. Though the title of Wale’s latest record as well as his debut, The Mixtape About Nothing, are clear indicators of borderline obsessive fandom, the legendary comedian and rapper are actually friends. Just read this ‘Complex’ interview! Despite being the trippiest of collaborations, the individuals’ works do share some similarities. Seinfeld revolutionised the sitcom not just by its format of being ‘a show about nothing’ but also by the way its characters didn’t endear themselves to the audience. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia has taken it to the Nth degree, but often Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer just didn’t have the good hearts or nature into which emotion could be invested (Friends, Married…With Kids etc. etc.). Making people laugh without that crutch to lean on is hard; Jerry’s show was still able to be regarded as very funny. Nothing isn’t overtly political and it doesn’t it shed much light on the African-American experience. Nor is it particularly confrontational or aggressive. Its easy-going tone could even be interpreted as lazy or flippant. But Wale’s heart and soul are there within the multi-layers of the lyrics. You just have to listen out for it. And, like Seinfeld it overcomes a seeming lack of depth and poignancy by simply being enjoyable. It might not change your world, but for the time you’re listening it’s twitching rhythms, lush atmospherics and Wale’s warm, nonchalant flow it will take your mind elsewhere. And sometimes, that’s more than enough.
By:: Alex Cheah
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