Cole, where the uplifting instrumentals contrasts with the hopelessness of the situation he’s portraying. His pessimism continues in “The White Shoes,” as he digs into the useless materialism of urban culture, concluding that “These niggas love white shoes so much they’ll be buried in them.” The simmering antipathy towards how black culture has been sold to the media boils to a climax in “The Pessimist,” featuring J. “Niggas will fly you up this high won’t let you fly to the moon.”

Perhaps one could feel a little closer to being a famous rapper by purchasing a new jersey, but everything you do is controlled by those who really have the power.

But what is this hunger for? As Seinfeld says in the beginning of “The Helium Balloon,” “I can’t fly, but I can get a helium balloon.” Wale laments the fractional selling of dreams with this metaphor, expressing the tribulations and expectations of ambition as the music shifts to a grandiose bassline, incorporating reggae and boots stomping to a military beat. Opening with “The Intro About Nothing,” Wale grounds his soul in family and introspective hunger. Seinfeld clips narrate the album, and the cliche white-guy voice is both jaded advisor and proponent of the devil’s logic. Here, he rants about his frustrations with hip-hop gatekeepers not letting him be the classic he believes himself to be, he transcends the empty symbols of urban flashiness without condescension, and is at his best in poignant tributes to the feminine in his life. Gospel chants intersperse the post-hyphy drums and heavy, minimal basslines. The soulful production, harnessing plenty of live instrumentals, mixes well with the lingering hints of MMG production. Whereas his previous album had sounded at certain points like other MMG releases, “The Album About Nothing” is thoroughly Wale. “The Album About Nothing” continues a trend in his series of works about “nothing.” Besides capitalizing the same pronoun in front of every song title, it clearly differs from his other MMG produced works.

Wale the album about nothing clean