Back in 2008 Washington D.C. rapper Wale The Mixtape About Nothing which despite the fact that it’s a hip hop album based around Seinfeld references and soundbytes was one of my favourite albums of the year . Many others agreed with me in regards to the quality of the mixtape and it quickly skyrocketed Wale up to the uppermost reaches of blog love. Naturally Wale tried to channel his online successes into commercial success with his label debut Attention Deficit and this being the post-millennial musical landscape failed spectacularly. Not only was Deficit unable take any money out of consumers’ wallets its attempts to woo radio listeners made it nowhere near as good as the stuff he had been giving away to the Internet for free.
Hoping to put his mainstream failure behind him Wale has returned to the site of his biggest victory with More About Nothing a new DJ Omega mixed tape once again waist deep in Seinfeld love. Though More About Nothing could be seen as a retreat to safety it does find Wale back at the height of his powers as a rapper. The Seinfeld theme along with many verses about his inner struggles with women and hip hop culture may be familiar territory but the beats hit strongly and the rhymes are dexterous. Retreat or not More About Nothing is good hip hop.
