Six Things We've Learned From Wale's The Album About Nothing
Folarin has completed his hip hop-meets-Seinfeld mythology.
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Preview: Six Things We’ve Learned From Wale’s The Album About Nothing - Wale has completed his hip hop-meets-Seinfeld mythology with his new LP, The Album About Nothing. After releasing critically loved mixtapes The Mixtape About Nothing (2008) and More About Nothing (2010) — both odes to Larry David’s greatest TV creation — the 30-year-old Washington, D.C., native finally lured the legendary Jerry Seinfeld into the studio to chip in on his fourth solo studio project. With an early teaser listen to TAAN, BET.com breaks down six things we’ve learned from Folarin’s latest.—John Kennedy(Photo: Wale via Instagram)
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1. There Are No Rap Features - While Maybach Music Group releases tend to be label-mate free-for-alls, there are no Meek Mill, Rick Ross, Stalley, Rockie Fresh or even Fat Trel 16s on The Album About Nothing. J. Cole pops up on “The Pessimist,” yet his contribution is confined to a crooned hook. This is truly the DMV native’s vision, only occasionally supported by guest vocalists. (Wale does quite a bit of singing as well.)(Photo: Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images)
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2. Jerry Really Hosts This Thing - Whether commenting on gossip folks or acknowledging on the ephemerality of love, Jerry Seinfeld is truly a presence on TAAN, helping to thread the project together with short intro skits that give it a true concept-album feel.(Photo: Craig Barritt/Getty Images)
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3. Janet Cleared the Sample! - The obvious standout from Wale’s December Festivus mixtape is “The Girls on Drugs,” which features a so-’90s flip of Janet Jackson’s single “We Go Deep,” which was almost instantly assumed wouldn’t be approved for the final album. Yet the necessary conversations were had, MMG’s bankroll was tested and voilà!, the fan favorite earned a spot on the final roster.(Photo: Virgin Records)
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4. The Album’s Vibe Is Largely Fueled by R&B Plucked From the Past - Janet isn’t Wale’s only nostalgic inspiration. The Album About Nothing is a platter of musical references from yesteryear. SZA beautifully revives the chorus of Musiq Soulchild’s warm breakout record “Just Friends (Sunny)” for “The Need to Know,” while the Wale and Jeremih reunion, “The Body,” pays homage to R. Kelly’s “You Remind Me of Something.” “The Glass Egg” finds Wale interpolating Groove Theory’s ’95 classic “Tell Me” and elsewhere, there’s a sly nod to Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s “Back Together Again” on “The White Shoes,” also sung by Folarin.(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
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