If Hip-Hop were graded purely on poetic craftsmanship, few pens would rival Wale Folarin’s — a truth that, somehow, has never been fully embraced by the industry at large. For nearly two decades, Wale has crafted generational records that fuse R&B sensibility with Shakespearean lyricism, expanding the emotional range of the Nigerian American rapper and extending his cultural shelf-life in ways many of his peers have struggled to match.
The 90s Fine Meme:
Across his discography, Wale often chronicles the contradictions of a modern-day rolling stone over soulful samples — making his work both nostalgic and grounded in the present. Drake and J. Cole have explored similar territory, but Wale occupies a lane entirely his own. His résumé proves it: Lotus Flower Bomb, Bad, On Chill, Dearly Beloved — tracks that feel like a blend of ’90s fine, college-dorm romance, and an episode of Issa Rae’s Insecure.
With his latest album, Everything Is a Lot, Wale makes a compelling case that lyricism still has a place in a rap landscape often overshadowed by the rise of melodic, mumble-adjacent styles.
Wale - Where To Start (Visualizer)
A Study in Vulnerability, Vices, and Emotional Distance
Everything Is a Lot explores a wide emotional spectrum — the everyday dilemmas of the modern man: vulnerability, fidelity, temptation, and the tug-of-war between desire and detachment. Wale’s nonchalant manner of confronting these uncomfortable truths is exactly what resonates most with male listeners. He embodies the paradox: invested but aloof, present but inaccessible.
The album opens with “Conundrum”—a bold, fitting title. It samples Keith Sweat and Kut Klose’s 1994 classic Get Up on It, a sacred reference point in R&B culture, and Wale rises to the occasion.
Get up on It (feat. Kut Klose)
He states:
"My ex, I was in love with her Passionate sex, but couldn't cuddle her Tell me was it lust or did I love her? Her clothes off, I'm closed off, which one is worse?... Do you love me? She tell me I'm selfish I tell her I'm self-aware, I feel you, baby, but I don't feel nothin"
Wale — Conundrum
It’s a pristine depiction of the conundrum itself: emotional proximity without emotional availability. It’s gaslighting adjacent — feigning depth, offering gifts and attention, but withholding exclusivity. She labels it selfishness; he calls it self-awareness. It’s the blueprint of modern dating.
Most of us have been there: wanting someone we know we can’t have, accepting temporary closeness while hoping for a “what if.” A conundrum indeed.
The Emotional Arc: From Bravado to Bare Honesty
The album moves through similar emotional terrain on “Where to Start,” “Power & Problems,” “Watching Us,” and “City on Fire.” But the real breakthrough comes with “Blanco” and “Corner Bottles,” where listeners get an unfiltered look at Wale’s vulnerabilities.
Wale ft. Odeal — City on Fire:
@wale #wahala city on fire out now @Odeal ♬ original sound - Wale
In “Blanco,” he wrestles with exhaustion, paranoia, career pressure, and the quiet loneliness that fame cannot mask:
“I woke up at like 4 in the morning Went to bed at 4 in the morning … And my momma don’t ever say hi She say, ‘Mmcht, why are you single?’ I said, ‘Mommy, I’m sorry, I'm trying’ But nobody gon' love me like she do…”
Here, Wale’s mother confronts him about marriage. From her point of view, he’s successful, financially secure, and well past ready. But from his vantage point, fame is isolating. Trust is expensive. Vulnerability can be fatal.
This tension mirrors what many ambitious men experience: wanting stability but being immersed in an environment filled with ulterior motives and conflicts of interest. The party lifestyle becomes a coping mechanism; stillness becomes the unreachable dream.
Wale — Blanco
Heartbreak, Accountability, and Reluctant Growth
“Corner Bottles” continues the emotional unraveling. Wale acknowledges the familiarity of heartbreak while insisting this time feels different. He admits to personal growth regarding exclusivity, yet still questions whether he would repeat the experience:
“Would I do it again? I really don’t know.”
He’s proud that he tried — but haunted by the emotional collateral damage. It’s hard not to wonder whether the woman in “Corner Bottles” is the same muse from “Conundrum,” creating a quiet narrative thread throughout the album.
When Success Requires Survival: “Survive” ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Nino Paid
The album takes a heavy turn on “Survive,” where Wale mourns the loss of close friends — to violence, to addiction, or to the system. The song adopts a Boyz n the Hood tone: the harsh truth that escaping your environment doesn’t mean your people escape with you.
Wale explains the emotional burden of thriving while those around him suffer or fade away. He’s tried to help them, but addiction or circumstance has hollowed out their willingness to change. Survival, in his world, becomes both a blessing and a burden.
Ty Dolla $ign is a perfect collaborator here, given his own brother TC’s incarceration — a story he’s long carried in his music. Together, their experiences blend into a powerful lament on survivor’s guilt.
Wale — Survive ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Nino Paid
Wale’s Most Mature and Complete Work Yet
Everything Is a Lot spans a vast emotional landscape and reveals a more self-aware, introspective version of Wale than ever before. Critics have praised the album for its intentional beat selection, its willingness to confront uncomfortable themes, and Wale’s earnest attempt to own his contradictions on wax.
It may be premature to declare definitively — but Everything Is a Lot stands among the strongest, if not the strongest, bodies of work in Wale’s catalogue. It’s vulnerable, patient, beautifully written, and quietly profound.
Wale proves once again that even in an era dominated by vibes and virality, there is still a place for penmanship.