REVIEW: WALE - FOLARIN II

4/5

The Second Coming.

Roses adorn the album artwork of Washington's very own Wale and his new set 'Folarin II' in Basquiat blue, like John Legend's 'Love In The Future'. All of him is going all in. The D.C. rapper claims he is "overlooked", although the capital talent is on some "legend (excrement)" with a steady stream of successful records for your Spotify channels. Playlist after Playlist, it's time to give this man his flowers with no thorns after he grew from concrete like Pac and his damaged petals. Olubowale Victor Akintimehin's classic debut 'Attention Defecit'-which even had Lady Gaga looking at him-kept ours. It was a Wale of a time. But pronounce his name right...it's not "whale". Then with Moby Dick energy the Washington lyrical wizard, sophomore soared and came back with 'Ambition', now a part of Miami Port owner Rick Ross's Maybach Music imprint. Being handed the keys to 'The Gifted' like blunts in 'Rotation' for a man that even had a bust made in his image for the ceremonial third album cover. But his fourth release was what we were all waiting for. 'The Album About Nothing' after all those "meaningless" mixtapes which broke the rapper and really made him something. The 'Seinfeld' set featuring the man Jerry himself. Sought after like all 180 episodes of the classic Larry David show, doing anything but curbing our enthusiasm now they are all on Netflix like 'Chappelle's Show'. I know what I'll be doing on the train to Tokyo every morning now...pretending to be on the phone to avoid eye contact with everyone and offending people I give up my seat for because that makes them think I think they're old. Seriously though, that bass guitar is starting to give me nightmares, three seasons in. After that classic Wale continued to 'Shine', but during lockdown it's been a minute (2019...okay, more like two years) since his last cut, 'Wow...That's Crazy' (truly). But now the man is back with 'Folarin' too like a sequel. 

This fluoride flow on 'Folarin II' feels like a fresh brush to the teeth. Or the game. Getting into it like Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard it all kicks off from the tip with the fresh 'New Balances' like Kawhi. "We still in a motherf#####g pandemic he warns a mask shedding nation before rifling into that familiar killer flow no one can be protected from. "Hol' up I'm in Miami the toes out/Shout out to Zoey, the zoes out/Bam Adebayo on courtside", he says, sideline sitting and spittin' with the rap references to the other game. Fresher than a new pair as he swaps the soul samples for a Middle Eastern sound for the 'Name Bell Ring'. "Rocking with the team, I done brought Hakeem out/Say I need my flowers, the cookies come to me now/Bring the DMV out, glad they think of me now/Love it or you hate it but say, "Thank you" when I be out, boy", the certified rapper we love blooms, as we thank him, not later in the time of Drake, but now, boy. Sampling Q-Tip like a 'Vivrant Thing', Wale gets vibrant as he 'Poke's It Out' with J. Cole as in 'The Off-Season' the real sideline story raps, "Evidently, the coach can't bench me/The franchise player, I don't know how to miss/And they can't buy a layup, I'm anti what they are", as your breathing stops on this pulsating track. But the smoothest sound is laced up on the best kick of this cut, 'Tiffany Nikes' that gives air back to the game like jumping from the free-throw line. Before the 'Caramel' kisses with tender loving care takes us back to the 80's like MC Lyte. "There's demons on my mind, they're on the way to my heart/There's people on my side, they're trying to beak me apart" he raps as he let's the love and hate 'Fluctuate' in some introspection over ivory that shows he really is one of the most perceptive in this genre. No matter their perception of hip-hop from the heads that nod to more than beats for the streets. 

Classic collaborations are also on order. 'Light Years' just sounds that much further in the stratosphere with the raaaaa Maybach backing of the Don himself, Rick Ross. Duo doubling-up dynamically like Batman and Superman over the J.U.S.T.I.C.E League beat that moves in too many billions for kryptonite. "I am light years ahead of these n####s/I'm thinkin' bigger, we can link up but we know the difference/Yeah, and I don't move like an industry n###/My life is under a microscope, my chemistry special", Wale rhymes. Before The Boss like Springsteen fires, "I'm in the mood to watch my son become a man/Colin Kaepernick scramblin' in the South of France/See the kids in the park, I pray your gun'll jam/Set examples for all the hustlers who holdin' hands/Consequences, at odds with all the older heads/New money, cigars, who really know the ledge?/Earth, Wind and Fire birthed my desire/Cheers to the hustlers, toast to the choir", for some of the best lines of his life. Then clicking with Chris Brown on 'Angels' he "puts infinity stones on all your fingers" like Thanos, for the soul, power and mind for all of time in his own space and reality. But acting like he's got some sense it's his 'Dearly Beloved' dedication with Oscar winner Jamie Foxx that really is the gold before things get seriously soulful with Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men on the Sauce Of Backyard Band backing for the dressing, 'More Love'. It's all heart in the second half, like coming out to court dunking after the break, but with finger-roll smoothness. This LP is a lay-up for one of the underrated, hidden gems of hip-hop that makes it all look so easy, despite being on a genius level whilst others reach for the bar like an apple in the tree. Yet they're Adam compared to the warlock Wale. On the 'Jump In' with Lil Chris of T.O.B. over a pogo stick beat that will T.O.S. like G-Unit. But this isn't 50. We told you like Soulja Boy, this is Wale. And even in this streaming age, this one from a man that makes full album is worth more than a few dollars. Going 'Down South' with Maxo Kream and Yella Breezy like the trap as he has the game in a snare. Getting 'Extra Special' and smooth with Ant Clemons like he's about to be the new king of rap AND R&B, or at least those crossover collaborations. Then igniting the 'Fire and Ice' brought to boil in a perfect combustible mix of all killer, no filler slow flow as Wale begins by saying, "they told me I've not wrote anything poetic in awhile". Well wait for this chapter and verse for all he deserves from the game in reply kind. "I do the s### that they've never done/I see the s### they could never see/Honestly I'm really one of one/Honestly I've got no company" he says in closing on his own lane and street in 'Beverly Blvd'. Putting the game to bed from his own domicile. Don't sleep. Wale is back after our year in defecit. May he have your attention please! TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

 Playlist Picks: 'Poke It Out (Feat J. Cole)', 'Tiffany Nikes', 'Dearly Beloved (Feat Jamie Foxx)'.