The "Artistic Integrity?"

For the record, I DID NOT want to write this post. I do not take any pleasure in spreading negativity or writing scathing indictments of anyone, especially not an artist of whom I am a huge fan (some would even say fanatic). BUT as a lover of hip-hop and a person who demands that people stand by the statements that they make, I have to do this. Even if it hurts.

Yesterday at about 5:45pm, Rapradar.com leaked the official album version of Wale's "Pretty Girls" (previously posted on this blog's Dope Track Alert). This remixed version features (drumroll please)..... GUCCI MANE?????

Few words can describe the way my blood boiled upon receiving this news. Quite frankly, I had a full-blown meltdown on Twitter. I simply could not wrap my mind around how/why this idea was co-signed and then executed. Many people said that I overreacted. That the song was not that bad. I heard how this was a "good move" because it would bring him "more exposure to a new audience." And it all sounded like bullshit to me. In an emergency text conversation with the homey Dessex, I ranted "What about The Artistic Integrity??? This is bullshit." For a new fan or one not familiar with Wale's catalog, my reaction was unwarranted. But let me cite specific quotes/instances that prove this Gucci feature is a major sellout move.

On April 17, 2009 I atteneded a Wale show in Cleveland where he did a brief "speech" if you will about the Green Movement. This movement, he stated, was a strategy to "flood the industry with quality music that would wash away disposable music" and "trash." Sooo perhaps someone can explain how placing the current KING of Disposable Music on his album fits in with this strategy? It's cool. I'll wait.

"Listen up/I ain't never kissin' up/Every single single/aint a single/just to hit the club/I am not involved/nor do I indulge/in the harvesting/of poor artistry" (c) Wale "DC Gorillaz" 2007.

"We need us a plan/Respect has grown inferior to f--- Soundscan/If that don't sound bad you should ban me/I don't give a damn 'bout grands/See my mind's on a Grammy" (c) Wale "The Perfect Plan" 2008.

Let's examine two skits: "Tasty Skit" and "The Skit" (found on 100 Miles & Running and Mixtape About Nothing respectively) which finds then unsigned Wale being courted by an A&R from the fictional Cliche Records. In the first exchange, the A&R wants to rebrand Wale as "Young Wale" or "Lil Wale" to fit in with the "black people running around putting Lil in front of their names" trend. In the second exchange, the label has penned a dance track called "Crank Dat Flying Squirrel" (a play on "Crank Dat Souljaboy") that they'd like Wale to record. When considering the Gucci feature I cannot help but wonder if a similar scenario played out in the offices of Interscope after Wale signed the dotted line. Or maybe this is part two of "The Cliche,"(the original "The Cliche Lil Wayne Feature (It's the Remix Baby!)" appeared on Mixtape About Nothing).

In closing, I want to say that I am still a Wale fan. At some point, your favorite artist will disappoint you and you have to forgive them (Lord knows I forgave Jay-Z for that Best of Both Worlds 2 album). But I also want to be clear, that this is indeed a mistake. There is no explanation that anyone can provide that will convince me otherwise. Perhaps this will earn Wale more spins (I know this will work in Cleveland for sure), but it is a huge compromise to the fanbase that he's built over the last four years, a fan base that's probably scratching their heads like I am and wondering "What happened to The Artistic Integrity?"