Why the Wale Experiment Failed
For a while, it seemed as if Wale was destined to soar for an eternity. With all the planetary bodies aligned in his favor, his buzz would surely catapult him to unfathomable heights. His mixtape was the talk of the town. MTV tapped him to provide the musical backdrop for the 2009 VMAs. Jay-Z signed him to a Roc Nation management deal and made him an opening act on his Blueprint 3 Tour. The most popular pop artist in America graced his first single. He amassed 125,000 followers on Twitter (as of this writing). Simply put, Wale was coasting with no sign of slowing down. Until now. Despite the heavy promotion and media blitz, Wale’s eagerly awaited debut, Attention Deficit (Allido/Interscope), only managed a measly 28,000 units sold in its first week. What went wrong? Read the rest of this entry »




Last night, I realized that there is really nothing new about these guys anymore. When you consider mixtapes, touring before you have a single, and (yes, Freeway) the blogosphere, your average rapper who is getting any kind of play can stop using the term freshmen after just a few months. But since the summer is here, that means that the school year is officially over, and when we come back in the fall, you’re in class with the big boys. So go ahead and drop your album on the same day as Hov and 50; you’re not a freshmen anymore.