Wale's sophomore album Ambition sold 164,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard charts (behind Bieber!) and thereby making him twice as popular as the seemingly more popular Big Sean, though still a little less popular than the seemingly as popular J. Cole.

You may have noticed Wale on the cover of last week's Washington City Paper and in an accompanying long-form essay, which I wrote. The piece, which took a deep dive on Wale's career and was extremely critical of Ambition, proved controversial and divisive along predictable lines. Wale's detractors generally seemed to love the piece, while Wale fans loathed it. I guess when writing about something as personal as music, it's almost impossible to turn a mind around completely.

Still, it was frustrating to read the many comments and tweets that only furthered the victimization narrative that Wale has crafted for himself. (Because, to be clear, it's Wale who's placed his detractors—and by extension his engagement with them—at the center of his storyline.) Inevitably, the paper and I were accused of hating, even despite the essay's attempt to diffuse the idea that any—even scathing–critiques come from a place of hatred.

I've been writing about the guy and his music for nearly five years now, sometimes quite positively. Wale is a promising rapper who has made some gigantic missteps, rubbed quite a few people the wrong way in the process, and still landed somewhere close to on top. His trajectory has something to do with his music, sure, but it's also a product of the business choices he's made and the persona he's presented. I don't personally think that he's a "fuckin fag" and I'm fairly certain he's never actually lived in a garbage can. The piece was clear on that, although at least one commenter seemed to think those opinions belong to me, not the detractors whom I referenced.

Recently, New York magazine's Nitsuh Abebe wrote of a similar disconnect when he riled up his corner of the music world with a piece on Feist and Wilco and caused some of his audience to similarly mistake an account of public opinion for his own. On his Tumblr he responded:

Shouldn’t it be more possible—maybe even more common—for essays about music to be able to neutrally describe what “sources say,” or sources do, or sources listen to, without out trying to read behind that into what the author’s own tastes are? Amazingly enough, this isn’t something I’m suggesting out of defensiveness: I just think it’s incredibly important. There needs to be room for music writing that’s not just about the author performing taste and making value judgments. So much of the life of music—the ways we hear it, the things we want from it, and so on—exist in a huge, complicated context, and someone needs to describe that context.

Some readers complained that my article didn't cover enough of the record. But if you were looking for a "pure" record review, it's in there, only it's contained within a broader contextual survey. There's a reason for that: Ambition didn't multiply Attention Deficit's sales several times over because it's a better record (it is, but not considerably so). It did so mostly due to dynamics external to the music—not ambition or achieved excellence. The unfortunate thing is that this moderate success leaves Wale with little incentive to actually improve his music.

But good for him: Maybe he can at least mellow out on Twitter now.

Fat Trel

June Summers f/ Waka Flocka Flame & Fat Trel – "Shooter"

WCP's favorite shirtless local gangsta rapper and WCP's favorite shirtless national gangsta rapper have finally made a record. It's not a life-changing record, but a solid display of utilitarian goon-hop with Waka revisiting his "stepchild of hip-hop" motif while Trel makes some seemingly R. Kelly-inspired threats. Hopefully this is a harbringer of future collabs between the two and not merely a Pro Tools experiment that was pasted together by June Summers, the R&B singer who is nearly unnoticeable on his own record. Summers is fully shirted on the single's teaser art. (Via DC Mumbo Sauce)

Pros: Wale now has more direct access to Southern-style production where, as we've mentioned before, he's actually very comfortable—the prospect of a Wale x Lex Luger collab is exciting; Wale now has a formal and significant co-signature within the hip-hop nation—Ross will be able to promote him to actual rap fans as opposed to Mark Ronson and Jimmy Iovine, who often pushed him as a dance/pop crossover act; Rick Ross doesn't have Lady Gaga's phone number; Rick Ross does have Meek Mill's phone number.

Cons: Wale's music will likely move even further away from anything resembling a DMV aesthetic; the high likelihood that Wale will never actually release an album under an imprint that barely exists; the potential involvement of DJ Khaled; the fact that Wale is still Wale.

The Maybach Music Group is currently being courted by major labels and Wale's seemingly tenuous co-management situation with Jay-Z's Roc Nation remains in place.

While you were drinking egg nog and fighting with your family, WKYS spent the last few days of the year slowly announcing its "DMV's Hottest Rappers of 2010" list. Despite what seemingly everyone who sees it seems to think, it is a pretty solid top 10. Check the breakdown:

1. Wale 2. Phil Ade 3. Diamond District 4. Tabi Bonney 5. Kingpen Slim 6. Bear Witnez 7. Garvey The Chosen One 8. Boobe 9. DC Don Juan 10. RaTheMc/Fat Trel (tie)

Yes, there are some omissions; a few of personal favorites of mine didn't even make the cut. That's the problem with numbers like 10: They tend to be finite. But on the whole, the list offers a very accurate cross-section of D.C.'s increasingly diverse hip-hop scene. Rising national stars rub elbows with local favorites, street dudes share space with underground purists, up-and-comers are next to still-active veterans. (Sorry Head-Roc, Asheru can enter the discussion whenever he actually starts making music again.) Wale obviously takes the No. 1 slot, which despite whatever flaws he may have, is a pretty undeniable choice. Especially when "Hot" (i.e. popular/buzz-attracting) is the unit of measurement. Wale is the city's most visible rapper and will probably remain so for some time. The rest of the list is a similarly predictable act of canon-building, which is maybe necessary as an introduction to these artists. Anybody who loosely follows the scene could have probably offered a rough estimate for at least the top five. The most unexpected (though very welcome) inclusion was Bear Witnez at No. 6. Last year's very impressive Bear Season tape seemed to fall on deaf ears, but apparently his "I'm A Hustler" was "one of the most played local songs" on D.C. radio this year. I hadn't noticed, as this is a dubious distinction of the tallest-midget variety. D.C. radio very rarely plays D.C. music.

This seems to be the main complaint stemming from the experiment (apart from the inevitable "WHAT ABOUT MY FRIENDS!?" crybaby TLC shit): Why doesn't KYS play any of the artists that they just listed? It's a fair complaint but one that suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of how radio works. WKYS is owned by the national conglomerate Radio One. KYS DJs are beholden to a playlist that is dictated from above; they can't just walk into the studio and play whatever the hell they want. The people who write the checks and playlists at Radio One and WKYS do not know what a Garvey The Chosen One is.

This list, however, is a good sign, because it shows that there are at least a few people within the station's walls who are paying attention to local music. Maybe they're as frustrated as fans are that this stuff isn't making it onto the air. Maybe they're hoping the list will pass through the desk of the program director and the next time a Fat Trel single lands in the same place he'll recognize the name and give it a fair shot. I'm not sure how realistic a goal that would be, given how fucked up the mainstream radio power structure still is. But at the very least it's a small outlet within that system where these artists are being taken seriously, where a few more eyes and ears can land on their talents. Instead of nitpicking over the small things the list gets wrong, embrace it for what it gets right.

In addition to cursing, Wale also frequently produces music. Last week, in what feels like a bit of a slight to the Skins, he recorded a tribute to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, naturally set to the tune of "Black & Yellow" by Pittsburgh's own Wiz Khalifa. He also jumped on "Make It Rain," the recent chart climber from very underrated ATLien trio Travis Porter. The official version of that track has yet to hit the web but a scratch mix featuring just Wale's verse set to the instrumental has spilled. So if you're impatient and unconcerned with spoilers click here.

If it seems like it's been a quiet month for DC area rap, that's only because every last rapper in the city was waiting until today to drop their tape. First up is Kingpen Slim's long awaited The Beam Up 2. Slim has the best (and most Districty) rap voice in the District and so far this is sounding like his most consistent tape to date, mostly sticking close to the sort of triumphant soul beats that he sounds most comfortable on. Also dropping today: a new outing from underground female favorite RA The MC as well as solo tapes from up and comers Fat Trel and Black Cobain, both of Wale's Board Administration. I haven't had a chance to listen to those three yet because I am not a machine. But, yes, all indicators point to them being mixtapes.

Wale, DC'S GREAT RAP HOPE, has recently taken some time off from his day job of infuriating everyone to release some new music. More About Nothing is his retreat to the moment when the internet was most interested in him—his Seinfeld-inspired Mixtape About Nothing. Unfortunately, More About Nothing finds him still suffering from the schizophrenia that alienated many of those early fans in the first place, jumping around from street-rap to spoken-word neo-soul to gross cokehead party music. Hit the jump for my hating-ass track-by-track first-listen response, give or take a few songs that truly did say nothing.

"The Problem (Intro)"
Schroder from Peanuts meets Def Poetry Slam intro. Despite what he intimates, nobody has ever made the claim that Wale is "running hip hop." And "ruining" is usually spelled with an "I." J/K. Wale isn't quite famous enough to ruin anything but his own tapes.

"The Problem"
"Take it in blood like Phlebotomus." Vocabularic havoc!

"The Soup"
It seems like More About Nothing picks up the first tape's tendency to shoehorn Seinfeld themes and samples into wholly unrelated songs. This one is ostensibly about the Soup Nazi episode but only because it has vocal samples and Wale says "No Soup For You!" on the chorus. He also calls himself the sixth man on the Interscope bench, begs for Pitchfork respect (Questlove style) and calls out revered hip hop publication The Washington Post for accusing him of homophobia.

"The Friends N Strangers"
I do not want to hear about Wale's pre-cum related swelling. TMI 'til infinity.

"The Eyes Of The Tiger"
This is a tragic song where Wale rhymes from the perspective of everyone's favorite recurring Seinfeld character, Tiger Woods.

"The War"
Relationship-as-war metaphor. This is like the Wale version of that BOB song that I can't remember the name of but it features the singer that I don't recall. That BOB song was a big hit. This won't be.

"The Black N Gold" f/ Sam Sparro
I've never experienced it for myself because I'm too broke for blow or airplane tickets but I'm told that there's a rising scene of every-genre pop records that are only big in L.A., international clubs, and on the Internet. White guys becoming huge off fusionist music that is equal parts hip-hop, euro dance, R&B, pop, and horrible. I take it Sam Sparro is one such artist, because his "Black and Gold" is basically all of those things and has more than 12 million views on YouTube. So Wale remixed it by adding rapps and Baltimore-styled breaks. I think he secretly wishes he didn't have any obligations to the hip-hop world and could just make music like this all of the time, thereby doubling the number of times his music would appear in strip club scenes on Entourage. I just googled Sam Sparro and it turns out he is openly gay. So I take it this is supposed to be Wale's Eminem/Elton John moment?

"The Manipulation Pt. 2"
A sequel to the relationship split-screen track from the first Nothing tape. Assuming the first half of this is, in fact, intended as parody, then Wale is a pretty excellent conscious-rap parodist: "Black mother of the earth you know I forever owe ya/I will never ignore you 'cause I'm forever loyal/let's fall in love/let me put my seed in your soil!" THEN IT GETS HARD AND HE "FUCKING SHERYL CROWS THESE HOES." WHATEVER THAT MEANS IT SOUNDS HARD AS FUCK. HARDEST SHERYL CROW PUNCHLINE EVER.

"KD Interlude"
Very important athlete Kevin Durant knows who Wale is.

"The Posse Cut (Who Don't)" f/ Fat Trel & Black Cobain
Yes, we are now entering the more rugged part of the tape. This is one of the songs that got Wale in trouble at Artscape, so you already know it's gonna be good. And probably not about girls and pre-cum. It's just totally generic rap music, right down to the Wayne sample, but respectably so. Trel and Cobain, both D.C. residents, are definitely positive influences on Wale. He needs to rock more of this mindless rap shit, less LA cokehead party music and songs about his feelings.

"The Guilty Pleasure (No Hands)" f/ Waka Flocka Flame & Roscoe Dash
This isn't even a Wale record, but a Flocka record, but it was tacked onto the tape because it's becoming something of a minor hit. So yeah, any conceptual integrity this tape might have had just went out the window. Unless I missed the Seinfeld where George compels Elaine to "drop it to the floor" because he loves the way her booty goes. Still this is a pretty great record, as we discussed previously. In fact hearing it in the middle of all this confusion is a huge relief. It's not cute the way Wale needs to rename it "The Guilty Pleasure" as to coax his fanbase into listening to a song with Flocka on it. Better a shameless party record than the "The Innocent Displeasures" that comprise much of Wale's recent catalog.

"The Ambitious Girl"
He is doing this spoken word slam poetry thing for real, huh? 1998 called, it wants its headwrap back.

"The Cloud" f/ Tiara Thomas
Yeah we are seriously listening to this sort of sub India.Arie acoustic neo soul two songs after a Waka Flocka banger. Please pick a target audience and stick with it. Tiara Thomas seems to be an unsigned artist who does Unplugged-era Lauryn Hill style acoustic covers of popular rap songs on YouTube.

"The Get Away (Fly Away)" f/ Northeast Groovers
Kravitz via NEG via Wale. His and producers Best Kept Secret's Go-Go remixes usually sound fuller than this.

"The Get Away (Outro)"
Wale doesn't even bother bringing anything Seinfeldian into the outro, it's just a gang of spoken shout-outs. I think he forgot what the tape was supposed to be about like five songs ago. Or maybe he just took the "nothing" conceit a bit too literally.

Related: Trent Reznor swagger jacks with his own Mixtape About Fraiser

That programs like these book rappers, even "safe" ones who wear expensive sneakers instead of expensive jewelry, in the name of diversity or coolness and then refuse them an unfiltered platform defeats the purpose. Profanity is part of the nature of the genre. Hip hop was born as the voice of the voiceless and sometimes the voiceless are profane. (Sometimes the voiced are too! But mostly in private, which is part of the reason they tend to make boring ass art.) You wouldn't book a noise act and then tell him to turn down the volume or have a contractual clause where black metal bands are forced to chill with all that Satanism.

Some of the press chasing this limp excuse for a scandal, including esteemed hip hop resource the Washington Post, has reported that Wale was using "racial slurs" at the show. This is a completely disingenuous allegation given the context of the word in question. Yes Wale was using a word that has been historically used as a slur but he quite clearly wasn't using that word as anything resembling a slur. That's why words – and, by extension, hip hop – are great. Their functions and meanings can change based on their surroundings.

But nobody who is outraged about curse words cares about context or words. Or art, for that matter. They are just Think Of The Children outrage types. As if kids don't encounter more profanity than you or I do in any given day – on the playground, on the internet and in the rap songs they are hiding on their ipod. Maybe instead of pouring so much effort into puritanical indignance these folks should take some time to explain to kids that all words are malleable, that they can be used for good or evil depending on time, place and application. Was Artscape the ideal time or place to be shouting "real n&$%z f&@ with me" over and over again? Probably not. Was this a particularly noble application of profanity? Of course not. But in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter. Not for Wale, not for his oh-so-sensitive audience, only for sad people who are passionate about making issues out of non-issues. Well fuck them. Next year I'm posting outside of Artscape with a giant Radio Raheem style boombox and cranking this on repeat:

Two semirecent Wale tracks that have slipped through the blog cracks might indicate a new direction for D.C.'s GREAT RAP HOPE: "No Hands," a fairly generic collab with reigning Atlanta stars Waka Flocka Flame and Roscoe Dash about throwing money and girls taking off their pants and stuff; and "E St. Flow" with Fat Trel, a money/clothes/dope/hoes-minded rapper from Northeast whom Wale has been working closely with as of late. (The track dropped in January but we're talking about it now, dammit.)

Both songs are sonically and thematically more aligned with currently popular street rap than the blog-friendly turf Wale usually works (hence, slipping through blog cracks, no doubt). This is reflective of the same clique confusion that has haunted him his entire career. Is he a hood star or suburban sneaker spokesperson? Is he a local hero or an international jet-setter? Is he going to make songs with Gucci Mane or Lady Gaga? He almost never rationalizes the two sides, it's always one direction or the other. ndecision surrounding these questions is a big part of the reason his debut album, well, sucked. And it's hard to say how much of this is a product of Wale's own personal confusion and how much a push and pull from the powers that be. "Chillin" is more likely to get Interscope some much needed 360 revenue from car commercials than "No Hands" would be.

But identity crisis aside, Wale seems to be thriving in the company of these goons. His greatest skill has always been his presence more than writing or ideas. He knows ride a beat when he wants to, he works strong cadences and pronounces every word with a perfect clarity. (A product of his environment to be certain – ever try rapping over polyrhythmic timbales?) Stripping his content down to something so basic and forgettable as girls shaking on the floor forces the listener to focus on these strengths. On "No Hands" he borrows Waka's usually sloppy flow but turns it totally rigid and technical. These are hard records and Wale kills both in ways that he hasn't in a minute. He just seems more equipped to be a purely functional shit talking rapper than a brow beating purist or a balladeer or a shoe salesman or a pop star. Too bad Jimmy Iovine will never let him be so unidimensional, so we're instead stuck with just these brief moments of excellence. Unless/until he gets dropped.

Fat Trel's entire tape has been on Datpiff for a couple months and features entirely too much autotune but is otherwise pretty solid. Waka Flocka Flame is your little brother's favorite rapper if your little brother is an aspiring drug dealer. Roscoe Dash is your little brother's favorite rapper if your little brother prefers dancing to slanging.

More Music: "E St. Flow (Chopped & Screwed)"; Fiend f/ Wale – This My Summer

The sudden and welcome acknowledgement of DC hip hop history continues this weekend with a screening of the Briding The Gap documentary at the Historical Society of Washington, directed by Andre Banks and Sophia “The Historian” Nelson. The event will feature live commentary from XO, Black Indian, Phil Ade, DJ Heat, Kev Brown and others to be announced.