If it's not obvious by now the contributors of this blog are big Wale fan. About a year ago I was introduce to Wale via YouTube. I paid "BreakDown" no mind and kept it moving but then I kept hearing about him and the more I heard the more I became a fan, and once The Mixtape About Nothing dropped the rest was history.
For about three weeks Robin and I have been patently waiting for Wale's new mixtape Back To The Feature, and honestly it was very much worth the wait. For the average TRUE Hip-Hop fan this mixtape provides a sense of what real Hip-Hop should be: Dope beats, dope rhymes, less gun/gangsta talk and more thought provoking concepts in the music. The chemistry of 9th Wonder (who produced the majority of the mixtape) and Wale is evident on such tracks as "Tito Santana" and "Life's a Bitch". As a fan you can clearly hear the growth in Wale's lyrics, just check "Hot Shyt" and "Um Ricka" where he just comes out and murder the track. But the true gem of this mixtape comes in the story of "Goodbye" with none other than Jean Grae. This track in the words of Robin "is art imitating life".
To be a little picky....This mixtape has a one too many guest appearances. Not that I don't mind, but "The Sun" with Memphis Bleek and "Say It Again" with Royce the 5'9 was a little unnecessary, and the 9th Wonder proudction can get a little dull from time to time. Other than that you will have to search high and low to find many flaws in this mixtape. I can honestly say that I feel very comfortable with Wale being the future of Hip-Hop.
Other Highlights include "Sweating Out Weaves", "Warwick Avenue", "5 Minutes" and a host of others. Wale in many ways has set a standard for other rappers to follow. His mixtapes are better than many of these cats album, and although he has yet to drop his debut album, we can only hope his album is on the same level of his mixtapes. Lets keep our fingers cross.
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