Don’t Sleep S2A3: Wale - Wow... That’s Crazy

I’ll be super transparent with you guys, this album was slated to be apart of my Top 25 list’s articles but I allowed myself to get dejected by the numbers. So I took a break to focus on making music. Wow... is an album that since it‘s release has been played a few times a week. It’s the perfect Black Celebration album. And Wale made it his business to set that tone from the jump. Sue Me has been the anthem for my life ever since I heard it. “Sue me I’m rooting for errybody that‘s black” is how I’ve been feeling for a good long while but I never thought to get Kelly Price to sing behind me super beautifully. He kinda reflects on the flaws that people tends to point at when speaking on why he’s not in the same class as some of his peers or treat him as such. He never says anything about those guys directly but most of what he spoke on were talking points of that subject at some moment. But even with everything he goes through in life and the industry he’s rooting for his people, that resonates with me. BGM is one of my favorite songs on the album and I typically don’t go for this sound but it‘s super groovy. The celebration of Black Women from Black Men needs to happen so much more but Wale gave us an amazing record to dance with our Queens to. I can’t even lie if you hear this record blasting at a light it’s probably me and there’s a million percent chance I’m going crazy in the whip singing this record. There’s this song called Love Me Nina/ Semiautomatic with a speech from the amazing Nina Simone where speaks on it being her mission to make us aware of our Greatness. This is one of the songs that I listened to when making InterCity Dreamer to get my mind focused on the statement I wanting to make on the project. Wale in the first half perfectly celebrates what Nina Simone has done for Young Black people who she influenced. But the semiautomatic is how I felt when i took my break from blogging. It‘s like you’re told just how talented you are and how dope you are but that doesn’t translate into the recognition you maybe think it should. Like if I’m everything you say I am why is there a disconnect? Wale says his disconnection comes from his personality and I’ve been sympathetic of his plight for awhile, I understand. If artists are not booking Kelly Price after hearing Set Me Free they’re dropping the ball. The thing I love about Wale is he makes records that makes me look crazy in the car and that’s a great quality for an artist to have. Cause when Kelly goes off just like on Sue Me I’m super obnoxious when I’m singing this joint. I don’t care who hears me and I think it’s because Wale makes music for grounded people. People that goes through real life and I feel that kind of music more than anything.

There was so much more to speak on about this album and y’all will definitely get those conversations at some point. Wale will always release music that pulls out the human emotions and make me feel. The fact that he could be as honest and open on this album (and he usually is but it felt like there was an even greater effort to be those things) is beautiful because that’s the opposite direction everyone else is taking. This approach is why I love Females in R&B, they’re so transparent with who they are and it feels good to see people be unapologetically them and it seems difficult for men to do that in music so I have to celebrate the men who do it.

I want to say thank you Wale for being unrelenting in the fight for the respect you deserve in this arena called music. It used to be a little off putting years ago but I completely understand it now. To see you fight through the bat of being underrated makes it easy for me to keep fighting as well. You are an inspiration to me and I hope everything works out. Thank you.