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Wale released his sophmore album, Ambition, last November and one of the stand out tracks was definitely the title one. Wale enlists fellow label mates, Meek Mill and Rick Ross, to top it off. And now, the hard hitter of a track has been given an official video. Ambition, an album by Wale on Spotify. We and our partners use cookies to personalize your experience, to show you ads based on your interests, and for measurement and analytics purposes. By using our website and our services.

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin (born September 21, 1984), better known by his stage name Wale (/ˈwɔːleɪ/WAW-lay), is a Nigerian-American rapper. He first rose to prominence in 2006, when his song 'Dig Dug (Shake It)' became popular in his hometown. Wale became locally recognized and continued recording music for the regional audience. Producer Mark Ronson discovered Wale in 2006 and signed him to Allido Records in 2007. While signed to that label, Wale released several mixtapes and appeared in national media including MTV and various Black-American-focused magazines. A song called 'Ridin' in That Black Joint' was featured in the popular video game Saints Row 2's soundtrack in 2008.

In 2008, Wale signed with Interscope Records for $1.3 million, and his debut album Attention Deficit was released in 2009 with the singles 'Chillin', 'Pretty Girls', and 'World Tour'. The album, although under-shipped, received positive reviews from critics. In early 2011, Wale signed with Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group, where members of the label released a compilation album, Self Made Vol. 1 on May 23, 2011. His second studio album, Ambition was released November 1, 2011, with mixed reviews. His third studio album, The Gifted, was released on June 25, 2013, to mainly positive reviews; it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. His second Billboard number one album The Album About Nothing was released on March 31, 2015.

In 2018, Wale released three E.P.s titled It's Complicated, Self-Promotion and Free Lunch.^[2]

• 1Biography
• 4Discography
• 6Awards and nominations

Biography[edit]

1984–2007: Early life and career beginnings[edit]

Olubowale Victor Akintimehin was born on September 21, 1984, in Northwest, Washington, D.C..^[3] His parents were both from the Yoruba ethnic group of southwestern Nigeria, and both of them came from Austria to the United States in 1979. Wale's family first lived in Northwest, Washington, D.C. and then moved to Montgomery County, when Wale was at the age of 10. In 2002, he graduated from the Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and moved to Largo, Maryland^[4] in Prince George's County. Wale attended Robert Morris University and Virginia State University on football scholarships, then transferred to Bowie State University. However, he dropped out due to academic reasons.^[5][3] Wale's love of the game of football and the Washington Redskins has led to a longstanding rumor that Wale had a tattoo of tight end Chris Cooley.^[6] He's also the cousin of an actor Gbenga Akinnagbe, who is best known as for playing Chris Partlow on HBO's The Wire. Wale's first recorded track, called 'Rhyme of the Century', became his first song to ever be played on the local radio. In 2006, he was featured in the 'Unsigned Hype' column of The Source magazine, and later signed to a local label, Studio 43. The track, called 'Dig Dug (Shake It)' became popular in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, and was a tribute to Ronald 'Dig Dug' Dixon, who was a percussion player for the go-go band Northeast Groovers.^[5] The song became the most requested song by a local artist in Washington D.C. radio history and Wale was the first local artist to get some BDS spins since DJ Kool in the early 1990s. The song was included in Wale's first mixtape, Paint a Picture.

In July 2006, Wale found representation in Daniel Weisman, who is a former club DJ and promoter, who has no previous experience in management.^[7] Weisman had been tipped off about the rapper by a friend in Washington, D. C and connected with him through Myspace.^[7] In September 2006, after dropping another go-go influenced single, called 'Breakdown' (sampled from Huck-A-Bucks 'Sexy Girl') has been getting a mention on The Washington Post,^[8] Wale released his first non-go-go original single, called 'Uptown Roamers'. On September 14, 2006, 'Uptown Roamers' debuted on XM Radio Channel 66, where it's been played twice in one day. Both 'Breakdown' and 'Uptown Roamers' were on Wale's second mixtape, Hate Is the New Love. The song, 'Breakdown' was featured on the video game Madden NFL 2009.Wale won the award for 'D. C. Metro Breakthrough Artist of the Year' at WKYS's Go-Go Awards in November 2006.^[9] On December 15, The Fader magazine associate editor Nick 'Catchdubs' Barat visited Wale for an interview and photo shoot, which appeared in the March 2007 issue of The Fader.^[10] Manager Weisman told HitQuarters that the Fader feature, given the magazine's music/culture/fashion orientation, laid an important foundation for Wale to position himself as a 'cool, smart, up-and-coming hip-hop artist who might actually be Drake'.^[7]

2007–09: National attention and major label signing[edit]

In January 2007, Wale released a new single to radio called 'Good Girls' produced by Gerard Thomas and Demario Bridges for TeamMusicGroup(LeTroy Davis). Wale later appeared on Mark Ronson's remix of Lily Allen's 'Smile'^[11] and was a headliner on Ronson's UK tour that year promoting Ronson's second album Version.^[12][13] In June 2007, Wale signed to a production deal with Ronson's Allido Records.^[5]In May 2010, Wale abruptly canceled a scheduled performance at DC Black Pride, an annual black gay pride event. In an email to the event's organizer, Wale's manager claimed he was unaware it was a gay event when he agreed to perform. However, on May 28, 2010, it was announced he would perform alongside the headliner for free.^[14]Wale released his third mixtape, 100 Miles & Running, on July 11, 2007, as a free download on his Myspace page. This mixtape includes features from Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather, Amy Winehouse, and Lily Allen. It was released on the same day as his performance at the Highline Ballroom, in Manhattan. The Highline show was to promote the US release of Mark Ronson's album and included performances by Mark Ronson, Wale, Saigon, and Daniel Merriweather. Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Maroon 5, Clive Davis, Eve and Danny Masterson were all in attendance. There, Wale was interviewed by MTV News correspondent J. D. Tuminski for his first national TV feature on August 16, 2007.^[15] With Ronson, Wale performed 'W. A. L. E. D. A. N. C. E. ', a remix of Justice's 'D.A.N.C.E.' from Wale's 100 Miles mixtape, at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada.^[16]The Washington Post profiled Wale on the front page of the Sunday Style section in the October 21, 2007, edition.^[3] Wale was featured on the cover of the 150th issue of URB along with French electro group Justice.

In March 2008, Wale signed a joint venture deal with Mark Ronson's Allido Records and Interscope, joining Rhymefest and Daniel Merriweather as Allido artists.^[17]Epic Records, Atlantic Records, and Def Jam all competed to sign Wale.^[5] On May 30, Wale released his fourth mixtapeThe Mixtape About Nothing, heavily produced by Best Kept Secret.^[18] Wale said that the television show Seinfeld inspired The Mixtape About Nothing: 'the TV show's 'honest dialogue' mirrors his lyrical style, which frequently references pop culture and politics while avoiding gangster-rap bluster'.^[19]After signing with Interscope, Wale began recording tracks for his major label debut: in a 2008 interview with Express, a newspaper published by the Washington Post Company, Wale announced that he was recording a song with Chrisette Michele called 'Shades', which discusses inter-black racism.^[20] Wale also appeared on Interscope label mate DJ Greg Street's single 'Dope Boys' which samples Hip Hop classic T.R.O.Y. alongside Lupe Fiasco and Kardinal Offishall.^[21] Rapper Young Chris of rap duo Young Gunz also began plans for a collaboration mixtape with Wale.^[22]

On June 19, 2009, Wale released his fifth mixtape, Back to the Feature, on which eleven of the tracks were produced by 9th Wonder, with contributions also coming from Mark Ronson and others.^[23] The album's title, a play off the name of the movie Back to the Future, referred to the fact that a lengthy list of rappers joined Wale on the songs, including K'naan, Tamere Guess, Talib Kweli, Joell Ortiz, Beanie Sigel, Curren$y, J. Cole and Bun B.^[24] The mixtape received positive reviews from Vibe magazine^[24] and website Pitchfork Media,^[25] but Colin McGowan of Cokemachineglow commented that it represented neither 'a step forward or back [for the artist] so much as shouting-in-place. '^[26]Wale did a guest performance on 'Change', a song by the Australian singer-songwriter Daniel Merriweather. It was written by Merriweather and Andrew Wyatt and produced by Mark Ronson. It was released on January 30, 2009, in the United States and Canada, and February 2, 2009, in the UK (where the song peaked at no.8). The song is included on Merriweather's album Love & War.On September 13, Wale, alongside the DC-based musicians of UCB (Uncalled 4 Band)- The Board Administration artists, served as the official house band for the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.^[27]

2009–10: Attention Deficit[edit]

Released on November 10, 2009, Wale's debut album, Attention Deficit, had primarily positive reception. Metacritic, which assigns a standardized score out of 100, rated the album 77 based on 21 reviews.^[28] It debuted at the number 21 spot on the Billboard 200 and sold 28,000 copies in its first week. Interscope claimed that the LP was undershipped and that was the reason for the low sales numbers. Daniel Weisman, Wale's manager, claimed that Interscope didn't ship enough copies of the album.^[29] The first single off Attention Deficit was 'Chillin', featuring Lady Gaga, followed by 'Pretty Girls' featuring Gucci Mane and Weensey and 'World Tour' featuring Jazmine Sullivan. Other guest artists on the album included Pharrell; Bun B; Chrisette Michele; K'Naan; Marsha Ambrosius; J. Cole; and Melanie Fiona.^[30]In March 2010, Rapper Wale announced he and K'Naan would kick off a short co-headlining tour across the east coast of the US, beginning at the end of March in New York City.^[31] According to Wale, he is in the studio with Gucci Mane, Waka Flocka Flame, Roscoe Dash, Sean Garrett, and Drumma Boy.

On August 3, 2010, Wale released his sixth mixtape, More About Nothing hosted by DJ Omega a follow-up to his critically acclaimed The Mixtape About Nothing under The Board Administration^[32] – an independent label co-founded with Marketing Executive Le'Greg O. Harrison. More About Nothing took the internet by storm resulting in 100,000 plus downloads in 90 minutes.^[33]More About Nothing creatively integrates sitcom material with rhyme and wordplay to present Wale's frustrations on his plight to reach mainstream acceptance and success. Features include Wiz Khalifa, Waka Flocka, Daniel Merriweather, UCB, Board Administration Artists' Tiara Thomas, Black Cobain, Fat Trel, and NBA Player and DC Native Kevin Durant.In the last half of 2010, inspired by Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Fridays project, Wale re-released a track from one of his previous mixtapes for free-download on his own website every Thursday, calling this enterprise 'Throwback Thursday'. Guests on those tracks included Bun B, Pusha T, John Mayer, Lil Wayne and K'Naan.

2011: Signing to MMG and Ambition[edit]

On February 5, 2011, during Super Bowl XLV festivities he announced his signing to artist Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group.^[34] He states that he will still continue to be able to put out the music that he believes in, with the support of Rick Ross. Since 2009, Wale has been signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation for management along with other artists such as J. Cole, Mark Ronson, Melanie Fiona and Rihanna. On May 6, 2011, Wale shared plans with MTV Networks regarding the potential release of two albums in 2011. Later the same month, he confirmed pre-production efforts for Ambition, his second album, slated for a fall 2011 release under Maybach and Warner Music Groups. Production for Ambition took place at ZAC Recording in Atlanta, Georgia with The Board Administration Producer Tone P. Anticipation for Ambition was incited through the release and heavy viral promotion of mixtape, The Eleven One Eleven Theory done under Wale's label, The Board Administration. The Eleven One Eleven Theory debuted August 17, 2011, on Life and Times in honor of Wale's Twitter milestone of reaching one million followers and was purposefully made with the intent to build widespread anticipation for the November 1, 2011, scheduled release date of Ambition.^[35] This marketing strategy was the brainchild of The Board Administration CEO Le'Greg O. Harrison and was executed through savvy social media integration, resulting in the first shut down of renowned file sharing site Hulkshare in the first 4 seconds of posting the link.^[36] Wale is the first mainstream artist to officially crash Hulkshare.^[37]

On September 7, 2011, Wale announced plans for a 32-city domestic tour titled The Ambition Tour, which initiated October 2, 2011, in Minneapolis Minnesota and has dates through December 2011.^[38]The Board Administration Artist Black Cobain is the official opening act for each date and is followed by a rotation of various artists in select markets which include: Rick Ross, Meek Mill, Pusha T, J. Cole, Big Sean, Miguel, and more.^[38] The tour was booked by NUE Agency.^[39]On September 28, 2011, Wale revealed that Ambition was complete and released the single 'Lotus Flower Bomb', featuring Miguel on Twitter.^[40] On September 29, 2011, Funk Master Flex debuted Wale's song 'Tats on my Arms', featuring Rick Ross.^[41] The next day, Wale released the album cover for Ambition.^[42] On October 14, 2011, Wale released the single 'Focused', featuring Kid Cudi.^[43] The official Ambition track listing includes 15 songs.^[44] The Board Administration launched a robust social media campaign integrating never-seen-before social media strategy and savvy to virally promote Ambition. The promotional campaign included a five-part 'making of' documentary, a Twitter campaign centered on a hashtag blitz–aptly named #Ambition, daily new music and video releases from Wale, and promotional materials for purchase through Warner Music Group and Maybach Music Group such as Ambition wristbands and graphic tees.^[45] These efforts were also supported by televised 'making of' episodes through networks such as MTV that hosted Sucker Free Road to Release.^[46] The never-seen-before element of Wale’s Ambition promo blitz included a partnership formed between the current most popular file sharing site Hulkshare and The Board Administration.^[45] Greater than 3 million people frequent Hulkshare daily, and through this collaboration could view banner ads on practically every Hulkshare download page flanked with Wale’s profile and a clock counting down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the album released.^[45]

On October 27, 2011, Wale unveiled an Ambition snippet sampler on YouTube for people to preview the album.^[47] Later the same day, a private Ambition media listening event, held at the Gansevoort Hotel of Chelsea New York, was attended by music executives, bloggers, various artists, and hip hop heads.^[47]On November 2, 2011, Myspace and Hot 97 presented a complimentary Wale and friends midnight Ambition release show at The Highline Ballroom in New York City. The event was hosted by Miss Info and featured special guest DJ Funkmaster Flex.^[48]The album debuted number two on the Billboard 200, selling 162,600 copies in its first week.^[49] The album initially received mixed reviews, including a negative one in Wale's local Washington City Paper.^[50] However, the album currently holds a 69/100 score on Metacritic, signifying 'generally favorable reviews. '^[51]

2012–2017: The Gifted,The Album About Nothing,Shine[edit]

On November 25, 2011, shortly after the release of Ambition, Wale announced on Twitter that he has already begun working on his third album.^[52] In an interview with UpVenue in January 2012, Wale confirmed the third album and the focus will be about his growth as a person.^[53] He was featured on Maybach Music Group's second studio album Self Made II. Wale released the mixtape Folarin on December 24, 2012, which is hosted by DJ Clark Kent.^[54] He released a trailer for Folarin on December 6, 2012.^[55] He has also started working on his third studio album which is to be released in 2013. The mixtape features guest spots Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Scarface, Nipsey Hussle, French Montana, Tiara Thomas, Lightshow, and Trinidad James among others. Production comes from Hit-Boy, Jake One, Cardo, Diplo, Beat Billionaire and Rico Love among others.^[55]

When speaking of his third studio album Wale would say, 'it's going to have one sound, very, very soulful' and said the first single, 'Bad' is a pretty good indication of the direction I'm going for this project.' The album is set to release on June 25, 2013, and with his fourth album is coming a couple months after that.^[56] Wale announced he was collaborating with Jerry Seinfeld on his fourth studio album to be titled The Album About Nothing.^[57] He later said he was also collaborating with producer No I.D. on the album. He also said he would release a collaboration mixtape with Meek Mill during 2013.^[58]

In December 2012, Wale had announced he was planning on releasing a Go-go album: 'I wanna do the album for me. This is the second time I’m announcing it, but I’m doing a Go-Go album after my album. And when I say Go-Go I don’t mean like cheesy Go-Go. It’s gonna be sequenced. It’s gonna be me probably rapping only 40-percent on the album, but getting the sound out.'^[59]

To build hype for The Gifted, Wale released 'Sight of the Sun,' a remix of the Fun. song of the same name.^[60] This was similar to the songs 'Bittersweet' and 'Fly Away,' which he released prior to Attention: Deficit.

On September 9, 2014 Wale released the first single from the album The Album About Nothing titled 'The Body' featuring American singer Jeremih.^[61] On November 17, 2014, Wale announced a 31-date US tour entitled the Simply Nothing Tour. The tour is in support of his upcoming 2015 album, The Album About Nothing.^[62] On December 24, 2014, Wale released the mixtape Festivus heavily themed by the Seinfeld holiday. Features on the mixtape included Chance The Rapper, A$AP Ferg, and Pusha T, among others.

On March 31, 2015 Wale released his fourth studio album The Album About Nothing, which featured Jerry Seinfeld, J. Cole, Usher, and SZA among others.^[63] It became his second #1 album in the United States.^[64] It was revealed that Wale would next serve as the Executive Producer for Maybach Music Group's next collaborative album Self Made 4.^[65]

Wale also recorded the original music theme for the popular ESPN sports talk show First Take, which features journalists/panelists Stephen A. Smith, Max Kellerman and moderator/host Molly Qerim. The two-hour show, which airs twice daily at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on ESPN, features Wale's theme at the beginning of the show.

Wale's fifth studio album, Shine was released on April 28, 2017, selling 28,000 units in its first week.

2018: It's Complicated, Self Promotion, Warner Bros. and Free Lunch[edit]

After parting ways with Atlantic Records in February,^[66] Wale released a surprise 4-Track E.P titled It's Complicated on March 13, 2018.^[67][68] Two months later, he release a 2nd E.P titled Self Promotion on May 8, 2018.^[69][70] The 4-Track EP had a single guest feature in R&B singer, Jacquees. On May 16, 2018, it was announced that Wale had been signed to Warner Bros. Records.^[71] Then on September 14, 2018, he released a 3rd E.P titled Free Lunch, with guest appearances from long time friend and collaborator, J. Cole and Eric Bellinger.^[72][73]On December 20, & 21, 2018 Wale released two singles Winter Wars and Poledancer.

Musical style[edit]

In an interview with Flavorwire, Wale said that he incorporates elements of go-go in his music.^[74] Cyril Cordor of allmusic described go-go as 'a more raw, percussion-driven offshoot of disco' that originated in the Washington, D. C. area. Wale's early singles that were played primarily in his local metropolitan area heavily sampled 1990s go-go records.^[5] Reviewing Attention Deficit, David Jeffries of allmusic remarked that Wale had a 'post-Kanye, post-Lil Wayne, alternative-meets-hardcore style' and commented that Wale's single 'Chillin', which featured Lady Gaga, 'crafts an instant floor-filler out of a sample from the 1969 hit 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye'.^[75]

Personal life[edit]

An avid professional wrestling fan, Wale has made several wrestling references on his songs.^[76] Wale hosts the annual WaleMania during WrestleMania weekend. He's also made several appearances on WWE television where he hosted a rap battle between The New Day and The Usos on the 4th of July episode of Smackdown Live in 2017 and was the guest commentator during Noam Dar and TJP's match on 205 Live in 2018.^[77][78]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums[edit]

• Attention Deficit (2009)
• Ambition (2011)
• The Gifted (2013)
• The Album About Nothing (2015)
• Shine (2017)
• Wow... That's Crazy (2019)^[79]

Extended Plays[edit]

• It's Complicated (2018)
• Self Promotion (2018)
• Free Lunch (2018)

Other ventures[edit]

Wale Ambition Deluxe Album Zip Download

Wale teamed up with Philadelphia retailer Ruvilla, and ASICS for a product called 'Bottle Rocket' Asics Gel Lyte III in 2015.^[80] In 2016, he teamed with ASICS again with a product that features gold and shades of black and blue.^[80] On October 2, 2019, Wale escorted former NXT Tag Team championsThe Street Profits to the ring for their title shot vs champions Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly.

Awards and nominations[edit]

African Muzik Magazine Awards[edit]

BET Awards[edit]

BET Hip Hop Awards[edit]

Grammy Awards[edit]

MTV Video Music Awards[edit]

Nigeria Entertainment Awards[edit]

Soul Train Awards[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ralph-folarin-mn0003120456
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6. ^He was affiliated with the Richmond's local group Pearl University, who consisted of him Sidwonder and AK.Terl, Matt (December 2, 2009). 'Fast Facts About Hip=Hop Star Wale and the Redskins'. The Official Washington Redskins Blog. Retrieved December 23, 2009.
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53. ^'Interview With Wale'.
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61. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015. Retrieved September 9, 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
62. ^Homie, Big. 'WALE 'SIMPLY NOTHING' TOUR DATES'. Rap Radar. FH. Retrieved January 11, 2015.
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67. ^'Wale Releases Surprise EP 'It's Complicated''. HotNewHipHop. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
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71. ^Halperin, Shirley; Halperin, Shirley (May 16, 2018). 'Rapper Wale Signs With Warner Bros. Records'. Variety. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
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73. ^Orubo, Daniel (September 14, 2018). 'Wale Drops New 5-Track EP, 'Free Lunch' — Featuring J. Cole'. Konbini Nigeria. Retrieved January 14, 2019.
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External links[edit]

• Official website

Ambition is the second studio album by American hip hop recording artist Wale. It was released on November 1, 2011, by Maybach Music Group and Warner Bros. Records.^[1][2][3] It is the follow-up to his debut album, Attention Deficit, which was released in 2009. The album features guest appearances from Rick Ross, Lloyd, Ne-Yo, Big Sean, Miguel, Meek Mill, Kid Cudi, and Jeremih. The album was supported by five official singles— 'Chain Music', 'Bait', Lotus Flower Bomb', 'Focused' and 'Sabotage'. Ambition received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 164,000 copies in its first week of release. As of June 2013, the album has sold over 482,000 copies in the United States.

• 7Charts

Wale Ambition Lyrics

Background[edit]

On July 20, 2011 Wale began releasing video blogs titled '#Nodaysoff Vlog: Wale – The Making of 'Ambition' through the Maybach Music Group Channel.^[4] In an August 2011, interview with HipHopDX, Wale spoke about how the album is the best music he's ever made, saying: 'I’m putting out 10 new songs when I get up to a million follower on Twitter - [songs not from] the album. And I got a lot of freestyles, some classic shit, not playing no more. It’s been too… I feel like I’m one of the best, you know? And I wanna give my fans a reason to brag now like, 'Yo, this is what I like Wale the most.' A lot of niggas is nice, I’m just tryin' to take it up a notch like, we is working. I’m working vigorously. I’m mentally getting right. Working out, getting physically right. Reading more, I’m back to the old me. The vigor that I had with 100 Miles & Running is like, all over the album, it's the best music I’ve ever made in my life and I mean that.'^[5]

In the same interview, he spoke about his mindset on the album, saying:

'End all, be all. You. I want to have this conversation with everybody who asks me that question. You. A lot of people would kill to be where you at, right? But you would kill seven motherfuckers to get to where you wanna go in your mind. It’s a stepping stone. Young niggas really gotta get on they shit, for real. Whether you in the league, you playing basketball, whether you selling dope, whether you in school… We gotta get on our shit! Our parents ain’t have no m'fuckin' e-mail, m'fuckers had to memorize numbers and… The least we can do is grind! How many young Lyor Cohens you see? How many young Diddys you see? None! A lot of young niggas is in it right now as if they only wanna be in it temporarily, I want it forever! Fuck the money, fuck the fame, I want niggas to say, 'You know what? Wale make that… Psssh… Man… For real. For years. I love this nigga's music.' Young niggas don’t aspire to be legendary no more. They don’t. Niggas our age are so consumed in the now. That’s why they follow trends. That’s why they do little akee shit, weirdo shit…know what I’m saying? Young niggas don’t want shit but 'now.' The temporary riches, like, I want the forever, I want the forever glory. Temporary riches is nothing to forever glory. That’s what we striving for, that’s what Ambition is.'^[5]

On August 22, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Wale revealed he and Kid Cudi reconciled and were working on a song for the album, tentatively titled 'Focused'.^[6] This was the first time Wale and Kid Cudi collaborated musically since the release of 'Is There Any Love?' in 2008.^[7] The two were previously not working together, because of a small falling-out that they had in September 2010.^[7] On September 28, 2011, through his Twitter feed, Wale announced he officially completed the album.^[8] In an October 2011, interview with Complex, Wale spoke about the album, saying: 'The defining moment of my career will be Ambition.. [The album] is complete and I have every intention of making this a classic album. I was telling Drake the other day, a lot of the people that came before us worked a lot harder and things didn’t come as easy to them.'^[9] In the same interview, he spoke about the song 'Ambition', saying: 'Ambition' is a record that's on the album that's very important because it's the title track. The most famous rapper on the album is obviously Rick Ross, so I wanted him to bring a lot of attention to 'Ambition' because it's what the album is about. I also wanted my fans to hear another side of Rick Ross. He touches on some things that he never really spoke on before on that verse.'^[9] He also spoke about working with DJ Toomp on the album, saying: '[I worked with the] legendary DJ Toomp on the album. I’m 100% sure Toomp is someone I will be working with a lot in the future. One of the album's most [important] records is ‘Legendary,’ which Toomp produced. All I got to say is, if I only got three minutes and 30 seconds, ‘Legendary’ is what I would want them to listen to.'^[9]

Release and promotion[edit]

On August 17, 2011, Wale released a mixtape titled The Eleven One Eleven Theory, in reference to Ambition's release date. The mixtape features production from DJ Toomp, Sonny Digital, and Tone P, and features songs such as 'Bait', 'Chain Music' and the single 'That Way'.^[10] In 2011, to promote Ambition, Wale went on the Ambition Tour from October 2, 2011, until December 8, 2011.^[11] It started in Minneapolis, Minnesota and ended in Atlanta, Georgia.^[11] The tour featured Black Cobain from The Board Administration as the opening act.^[11]

Singles[edit]

The album's first promotional single, 'Bad Girls Club' featuring J. Cole was released on June 15, 2011.^[12] On November 1, 2011, the music video was released for 'Bad Girls Club' featuring J. Cole.^[13] The album's first single, 'Chain Music' was released to digital retailers on September 2, 2011.^[14] On December 15, 2011, the music video was released for 'Chain Music'.^[15] The album's second single, 'Bait' released to digital retailers on September 2, 2011.^[16] On October 20, 2011, the music video was released for 'Bait'.^[17] The album's third single, 'Lotus Flower Bomb' featuring Miguel was released to digital retailers on October 11, 2011.^[18] On November 15, 2011, the music video was released for 'Lotus Flower Bomb' featuring Miguel.^[19] The album's fourth single, 'Focused', features vocals by Kid Cudi and was released to digital retailers on October 19, 2011.^[20] 'Sabotage' featuring singer Lloyd was released to US urban radio as the album's fifth single on January 31, 2012.^[21] On March 20, 2012, the music video was released for 'Sabotage' featuring Lloyd.^[22] On February 19, 2012, the music video for 'Slight Work' featuring Big Sean was released.^[23] On March 13, 2012, the music video for 'Ambition' featuring Meek Mill and Rick Ross was released.^[24]

Critical reception[edit]

Ambition received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[25] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 15 reviews, which indicates 'generally favorable review'.^[25] David Jeffries of AllMusic gave the album four out of five stars, saying 'As far as why it all hangs together so well, credit goes to Wale’s talent and his strong personality, which here has grown into an interesting combination of Lil Wayne and Plies, with a little 50 Cent smirk and bit of Drake’s phrasing thrown in for good measure.'^[27] Adam Kivel of Consequence of Sound gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying 'Wale is a strong lyricist, one that conveys an inner vision far better than most in the game. Combined with a good ear for beats, this makes Ambition a strong sophomore release, one that shouldn’t disappoint old fans while drawing in new ones.'^[28] Edwin Ortiz of HipHopDX gave the album four out of five stars, saying 'With a tight-knit collection of features and palpable confidence exuded in his lyrics, Ambition is Wale’s most cohesive and likewise enthralling project thus far in his brisk career. As such, the magnitude of this album rests in the hook of the title-track. Wale doesn’t expect every fan to symbolize their appreciation with a SoundScan; just don’t hold your applause.'^[29] Luke Winkie of Paste gave the album a 5.6 out of 10, saying 'It’s just not very fun. Wale’s conversion to Ross’ braggy rap-excess didn’t seem like a great idea in theory, and stretched out to an hour his updated, devolved craft starts to wear thin very, very quickly. He doesn’t have the same fire, conviction, or really any feasible statement of purpose. Competently dull in the worst ways possible and even further removed from the things that made him special in the first place, Wale may have found a permanent home within the Maybach family, but his top-tier dreams (or ambitions if you must) seem to be long gone.'^[30]

Simon Vozick-Levinson of Rolling Stone gave the album three out of five stars, saying 'He's too quick to reach for sexist clichés; cheap shots at groupies and gold diggers undercut moments of real emotion. What Wale lusts for most of all is respect. 'Fuck fame, fuck money,' he declares. 'I'm just trying to be legendary.' Someday, maybe, but not quite yet.'^[33]The A.V. Club gave the album a B, saying 'In its efforts to woo women listeners, Ambition softens some of the harder edges from Maybach’s other releases, but Ross’ rotund shadow looms large over the record nonetheless. The mogul gets feature credits on two songs, and even on a couple of tracks he isn’t billed on. He's there in the background, grunting approvingly, reminding everybody who made this possible.'^[36] David Amidon of PopMatters gave the album a five out of ten, saying 'There’s also no risks taken here compared to his debut. Instead, Ambition gives us pretty much the same song over and over again with just a few variations on the template, and feels like the hip-hop equivalent of listening to some pop rock band’s album who you’d never have guessed was being bet on by a major unless you were told. The music’s efficient and there’s literally nothing to get annoyed or disgusted by (unless 'Illest Bitch' weirds you out for his calling his sister in a bitch in a positive context) and so Ambition leaves listeners to answer the simple question of whether they want an exceptionally unchallenging album to listen to for an hour or not. I’ll just take the highlights.'^[32]

Adam Fleischer of XXL gave the album an XL, saying 'The sonic mood of Ambition reflects its title and author and proves, on the whole, far warmer than his debut. On the title track, he raps, 'They gon’ love me for my ambition/Easy to dream a dream, though it's harder to live it.' Wale seems to be living his on this sophomore album.'^[35] Jon Garcia of AllHipHop gave the album a seven out of ten, saying 'Ambition is a pretty decent album – but it won’t stick out the way his early mixtapes did. Is he 'Focused' like Cudi says? Perhaps, but true Wale fans will look for more substance and clashing drums on his projects. At least you’ll have the wordplay to hold you over.'^[26] Jesal Padania of RapReviews gave the album a 6.5 out of 10, saying 'To be honest, 'You will enjoy it for a while, and in a year, I guarantee that you will not be listening to it, save for a few songs (such as 'Legendary' and 'Ambition'). The quality of the music reflects this, as does the depth of Wale's subject matter. But Big Macs are still enjoyable in their own way, as is this album.'^[37] Matthew Cole of Slant Magazine gave the album three out of five stars, saying 'Where Jay-Z excels at bragging about his career and Drake makes whining about his fame seem insightful, when Wale starts sweating his legacy, he instantly stops being fun to listen to. For an album so obsessed with the amount of willpower that was poured into it, Ambition doesn't even secure Wale the Most Improved Rapper award, let alone the Most Likely to Succeed.'^[34]

Commercial performance[edit]

The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, with 164,000 copies sold in its first-week.^[38] As of June 2013 the album has sold 482,000 copies in the United States.^[39]

Track listing[edit]

Sample credits

• 'That Way' contains excerpts and samples of 'Give Me Your Love', written and as performed by Curtis Mayfield and interpolations and samples of 'I'm the Only Woman', written by LaTonya Blige-DaCosta, Curtis Mayfield, Sean Combs, Chucky Thompson, Andre Harrell and Faith Evans, as performed by Mary J. Blige.

Charts[edit]

Certifications[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'#Nodaysoff Vlog: Wale – The Making of 'Ambition' (Part 1)'. YouTube. July 20, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
2. ^'#Nodaysoff Vlog: Wale – The Making Of 'Ambition' Part Ii'. YouTube. August 17, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
3. ^Graham, Nadine (August 1, 2011). 'Wale Reveals Inspiration Behind 'Ambition' Album, Addresses Lazy Listeners'. HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
4. ^'MaybachMusicGrp'. YouTube. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
5. ^ ^abGraham, Nadine (August 1, 2011). 'Wale Reveals Inspiration Behind 'Ambition' Album, Addresses Lazy Listeners'. HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
6. ^Blanco, Alvin (August 22, 2011). 'Wale, Kid Cudi 'Focused' On Friendship For New Collabo – Music, Celebrity, Artist News'. MTV. Viacom. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
7. ^ ^ab'Wale Releases Kid Cudi Collaboration, Talks Feud and New Album'. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 17, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
8. ^Folarin, Wale (September 28, 2011). 'Finished w/ the album!'. Twitter. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
9. ^ ^abc'Interview: Wale Talks About Making 'Focused' With Kid Cudi and Why 'Ambition' Will Be A Classic'. Complex. October 17, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
10. ^Wale – The Eleven One Eleven Theory (Mixtape) 2DopeBoyz.com
11. ^ ^abcWale WebCrew (September 7, 2011). 'Wale's Ambition Tour ticket pre-sale is now live!'. Official website. Maybach Music Group. Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
12. ^'iTunes - Music - Bad Girls Club (feat. J. Cole) - Single by Wale'. ITunes (US). Apple. July 15, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
13. ^'Video: Wale f/ J. Cole – 'Bad Girls Club''. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. November 1, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
14. ^'iTunes - Music - Chain Music - Single by Wale'. ITunes (US). Apple. September 2, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
15. ^'Video: Wale – 'Chain Music''. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. December 15, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
16. ^'iTunes - Music - Bait - Single by Wale'. ITunes (US). Apple. September 2, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
17. ^'Video: Wale 'Bait''. Complex. October 20, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
18. ^'Lotus Flower Bomb (Feat. Miguel) [Explicit]: Wale: MP3 Downloads'. Amazon.com. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
19. ^'Video: Wale f/ Miguel – 'Lotus Flower Bomb''. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. November 15, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
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21. ^'®R&R :: Going For Adds™ :: Urban'. Gfa.radioandrecords.com. January 31, 2012. Archived from the original on January 10, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
22. ^'Video: Wale f/ Lloyd – 'Sabotage''. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. March 20, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
23. ^'Wale f. Big Sean – 'Slight Work''. HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. February 19, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
24. ^'Video: Wale f/ Meek Mill & Rick Ross – 'Ambition''. Rap-Up. Devin Lazerine. March 13, 2012. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
25. ^ ^abc'Critic Reviews for Ambition'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
26. ^ ^abJon Garcia (November 1, 2011). 'Music Review: Wale's 'Ambition''. AllHipHop. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
27. ^ ^abJeffries, David. 'Review: Ambition'. AllMusic. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
28. ^ ^ab'Album Review: Wale – Ambition'. Consequence of Sound. November 7, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
29. ^ ^ab'Review: Ambition'. HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved November 4, 2011.
30. ^ ^abPublished at 1:20 PM on November 8, 2011 By Luke Winkie (November 8, 2011). 'Wale: Ambition :: Music :: Reviews :: Paste'. Paste. Wolfgang's Vault. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
31. ^Greene, Jayson (November 4, 2011). 'Review: Ambition'. Pitchfork. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
32. ^ ^abAmidon, David (November 3, 2011). 'Review: Ambition'. PopMatters. Retrieved November 6, 2011.
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35. ^ ^ab'Review: Ambition'. XXL. Townsquare Media. November 1, 2011. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
36. ^McFarland, Kevin (November 15, 2011). 'Wale: Ambition · The A.V. Club'. The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
37. ^'Wale :: Ambition :: Maybach Music'. RapReviews. November 8, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
38. ^Jacobs, Allen (November 9, 2011). 'Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 11/6/2011 | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales'. HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
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