Alright, so I’m still going on these track reviews. Slowly, I know. I honestly am wondering why I promised to do it. You know what, screw it. I am going to cover EVERY remaining track right now. You can stream them all here.

5 Minutes: This song is not great. End of story. Why does everyone like Skyzoo? I can’t stand him. And the original “Back in the Go Go” beat was better. Good line, though? “Mancini, flier than the rest of them.”

Life’s a Bitch: Hard to say no to this one, but Talib’s Michelle Obama line is questionable. Interesting, but not really tactful, especially coming after a line about Deep Throat.

Night Life: Awesome track, beat, chorus. Definitely one to keep around. This beat reminds me a little of “Drinks Up,” the one track I really can’t wait to hear leak. Youtube it for a taste.

Sweatin’ Out Weaves: Also awesome. I swear, though, they must sample the xylophone from “Grillz.” And who’s singing? Is that Beyonce? No, but it sure sounds like her for about half the track. And that UCB horn fade is sick.

Hot Shyt: Surely not Wale’s beat, but it’s a great track. Especially considering all the voices on here – I love Black Thought on nearly anything, this is no exception.

Wonder Why: Very likeable.

Pot of Gold: This one leaked LONG ago, the original beat was finished at least 3 or 4 years ago, appearing on Mark Ronson’s “Gettin’ Chai” mixtape but without the Wale verses. Regardless, this is hands down one of the best tracks on the tape. Hells yes.

Sharp: 9th Wonder is a beast. Those piano licks are beautiful. “I pull out when I’m commin’, I love to be redundant.”

Warwick Avenue: This is, hands down, THE best track on the tape. I can’t say more than that, and I’ve already written about it before.

The Sun: Great sample, great lines. “They threw me in the skinny-jeans crew, just cause I rap about shit people really do.” Hard to accuse someone of being a hipster when they’re killing a beat like this.

Rather Be With You: Reminds me of a beat, I can’t quite place it. Maybe Common? Yeah, maybe that “Testify” beat, but I still think I’m thinking of something else. Whatever. Good beat. And J. Cole is sick. I saw him in concert once, thought he was some minor Syracuse rapper and then he started going. He was neither minor, nor from Syracuse. Check his mixtape “The Warmup,” the second best tape I’ve heard all year.

Goodbye: Doesn’t grab me right now, but I certainly don’t dislike it.

Say It Again: “I ain’t hear you clear, stuntin’ in my rarest pair.” Like the repeated lines when the sample cues him up to “say it again.” Oh, and Royce Da 5’9 is a sick, sick, man. Who on earth says “I look at the beaver [and by beaver he means a girl's... ] up ‘n down like I’m Wally-watchin”? Insane. And yet? Fantastic.

Talkin Shyt: Just doesn’t do it for me. End of story.

Nothin’ To Worry About: Great track, but honestly I love the “Party and Bullshit” mashup a little more.

Rhyme N Reason: Mmm, that beat is tasty. And Wale just floats over the beat like cream. Fly, fly, cream. Mmmmmmm and that hook is so damn right. Hell yes.

Um Ricka: Love K’Naan, I dig Mark Ronson, what’s not to love?

New Soul: Honestly, I wish he hadn’t pitched that sample down (see AC’s track and video). Lyrics amazing, this is such a good wrap-up track for this tape. The shout-outs to the other XXL Freshman Class, the tight lines about reviews, and twitter. Mm, yeah.

Alright, so that’s the mixtape. All tracks can be found right here, and you should listen to them.

Time for track three, you readers (all 6 of you! just kidding). This is by far one of my least favorite joints on the tape, as almost every version I’ve heard of “Chillin’” inevitably seems to be. What the hell is with these remixes?

Okay, we need to face it: “Chillin” wasn’t amazing to begin with. It was a noble effort on Wale’s part to find a chart-plausible single, but my guess is it may have been shoved down his throat by his label. Lady GaGa was a wise choice for that kind of move, the beat sounds like it should, and the lyrics are smart. But the whole joint feels empty. Even with Lady GaGa gettin’ her MIA on in the background, it fails to impress – it sounds like the token chart-friendly-single.

Calling this joint empty is harsh (and honest), so lets admit there are some great lines: “Let’s talk about the cars ya’ll got/You say you got a lotta whips? Well I’ve got a LOT.” This line is genius in it’s own way, if only because most people will never get it. He means a LOT, as in a car-lot of cars. It’s not obvious, but it is. Which makes it annoying and pseudo-clever. I like it. Whatever, shut up.

Now let’s talk about this remix. The intro sucks – it repeats the same orchestral hit WAY too many times in the same pitch before it leads into a totally disappointing beat. It isn’t a bad remix, but it certainly isn’t what I would expect from Nick Catchdubs regardless, but it certainly isn’t what I would put on a mixtape. The beat just doesn’t ever manage to make up for that truly awful intro, and every other time I hear the orchestral beat (every bar or so), I cringe.

Why did this make the cut? Honestly, I don’t get it. It’s a remix, Catchdubs did it, maybe that was enough – they certainly couldn’t include the lead-off single of Wale’s unreleased album on a mixtape as it was. Whatever, it’s hard to polish shit.

But IS “Chillin” shit? I’ll never really figure it out – it’s not TERRIBLE, but Wale is so much more. The music can be so much deeper, so much more raw in terms of energy – this beat is just totally over-produced, and GaGa’s presence (love her though I do) doesn’t help things.

Remixes of “Chillin’” worth listening to as alternatives? DJ Benzi and Skratch Bastid (via the fantastic Mixtape Maestro!) both have different takes on the track, and both are interesting in their own right. Benzi takes the acapella, speeds the crap out of it, and laces it over a Nightcrawler-The Feeling type house beat (with a video totally worth watching), while Skratch Bastid’s is more off the walls in an old-school hip hop and funk sort of a way. Just listen, you’ll understand what I mean – and enjoy the MIA/Arab Money samples at just the right parts.

…NEXT!

Wale – Chillin’ (Catchdubs v 9th) [mp3]

Download audio file (03-chillin-feat-lady-gaga-catch-vs-9th.mp3)

Wale – Chillin’ (DJ Benzi remix) [mp3]

Download audio file (chillin-feat-lady-gaga-benzi-willy-joy-remix.mp3)

Wale – Chillin’ (Skratch Bastid remix) [mp3]

I am going through this mixtape track by track, posting all the mp3s with my comments. Does ever song really deserve this much attention? Probably not. Does the mixtape really deserve this kind of attention? Duh.

This is the intro track off of “Back to the Feature,” and it opens with an explanation for the delay. Whatever, all water under the bridge. Let’s just get this started already.

When I first heard this song, I thought the beat was an old Numark/Cut Chemist joint, it would fit PERFECTLY on a Jurassic 5 album. Funky samples, an unconventional chorus, and a bassline that is laidback yet still manages to bang. This definitely isn’t my favorite track, but it’s solid.

Favorite line? “Ya’ll riddles don’t tickle a bit/Ya’ll similes is literal shit”

Wale (feat. Currensy & Tre) – Wordplay [mp3 link]

Download audio file (01-wordplay-feat-currensy-tre.mp3)

The wait is over? Oh hot damn, this 75-minutes of music is absolutely my jam. But more about that in a minute. First, the backstory.

The backstory: Wale’s “Back to the Featre” mixtape (a followup to “100 Miles & Running,” and the critically acclaimed “Mixtape About Nothin’”) was due out for release in April. April 29th, actually. How do I remember? I had an iCal appointment to sit down and listen to it. Sadly, April 29th came and went, and there was nary a tweet about it on the hyperactive WaleDC twitter account. So, like an obedient little fan, I sent him a tweet: “@WaleDC Hey man, any word on that mixtape?” No response.

A week later, word surfaced that a May release date was possible, though he didn’t say much on Twitter. Weeks passed, and more release dates came and went without a mixtape. I was discouraged, worried that this mixtape might never come out (Was he having MC-block? If it did come out, would it disappoint?), when a glimmer of hope surfaced. Wale announced that it would be out by June 13th or bust.

Bust.

It wasn’t out, there was no word last weekend about progress, and I was ready to give up. Some way to treat your fans, right? Early this week there was an announcement on his Twitter, simple and to the point: the mixtape is done, putting the final touches on, out this Friday. On Friday, he missed the deadline for getting it online. Damn, right? But then it came out.

IT CAME OUT. Now, back to the future (now). Or rather, Back to the Feature. Straight to my iPod with my obscenely expensive headphones, and when I drove into Boston it went straight into the car stereo. I could. Not. Turn. It. Off.

Over the next week I’ll run through reviews of some of my favorite tracks, but for expediency’s sake, here’s a few good ones: Pot of Gold, Rhyme N Reason, Um Ricka.

Cop it here: http://www.zshare.net/download/61605401574105cb/