“Ambition” may be the best Wale release since his 2008 mixtape “The Mixtape About Nothing,” but it’s still chaotic. He’s not the triumphalist that his boss is, and the production here feels too grand for him — he’s a gummy rapper still tentative about his subject matter, his flow patterns and his confidence.
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Mr. Cole has a pair of hits on the chart too, though they’re lower down. Of these three rappers he’s probably the most charismatic, but “Cole World” feels like a compromise between the smooth-talking artist who became a favorite because of his thoughtful mixtapes and someone who understands that those sorts of songs have little to do with success in the nonvirtual world.
Being white, Mac Miller faces a problem Wale and Mr. Cole don’t have: Will radio regard him as a rapper or a pop artist? Which stations will he be played on? Being white essentially doubles his options, and possibly dilutes his message. “Blue Slide Park” is an extremely lighthearted album; Mac Miller isn’t ever not having fun. He toggles between complex rhyme and cheap punch lines, working equally hard at both.
But there are flickers of savvy at work here. “Loitering” has a tremendous, unconventional, guttural beat by Young L, and Mac Miller’s current single, “Party on Fifth Ave.,” is his best to date, a breezy romp that samples “The 900 Number,” one of the great 1980s hip-hop instrumentals.
If there’s a model for surviving this hype spike and finding stability, it’s staring Mac Miller, Wale, Mr. Cole and their peers right in the face, and probably blinding them. Next week Drake will top the album chart, knocking Mac Miller back down to earth; Drake’s expected to sell 600,000 to 700,000 copies of his second album, “Take Care” (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic) this week, which will be one of the biggest debut weeks of the year.
But not that long ago, Drake was just a rapper hoping to transcend the Internet. “So Far Gone,” his breakout 2009 mixtape, was an Internet phenomenon that became something much greater, spawning radio hits and even garnering a pair of Grammy nominations, a first for a mixtape.
Unlike Mac Miller, Wale and Mr. Cole, Drake was a steady presence on radio for months leading up to the release of his 2010 debut album, “Thank Me Later,” which sold approximately 447,000 copies in its first week, and eventually went platinum. Drake had used the Internet as a springboard to the old-fashioned sort of fame.
But even Drake, now part of the establishment, isn’t above working within the new model. After the singles from “Thank Me Later” dried up, he spent much of last summer stoking the flame for “Take Care” with free songs released on his blog — some of which ended up on the album, and others that now live only in the Internet’s memory. If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/a...le-free-music-pays-off.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Related
Mr. Cole has a pair of hits on the chart too, though they’re lower down. Of these three rappers he’s probably the most charismatic, but “Cole World” feels like a compromise between the smooth-talking artist who became a favorite because of his thoughtful mixtapes and someone who understands that those sorts of songs have little to do with success in the nonvirtual world.
Being white, Mac Miller faces a problem Wale and Mr. Cole don’t have: Will radio regard him as a rapper or a pop artist? Which stations will he be played on? Being white essentially doubles his options, and possibly dilutes his message. “Blue Slide Park” is an extremely lighthearted album; Mac Miller isn’t ever not having fun. He toggles between complex rhyme and cheap punch lines, working equally hard at both.
But there are flickers of savvy at work here. “Loitering” has a tremendous, unconventional, guttural beat by Young L, and Mac Miller’s current single, “Party on Fifth Ave.,” is his best to date, a breezy romp that samples “The 900 Number,” one of the great 1980s hip-hop instrumentals.
If there’s a model for surviving this hype spike and finding stability, it’s staring Mac Miller, Wale, Mr. Cole and their peers right in the face, and probably blinding them. Next week Drake will top the album chart, knocking Mac Miller back down to earth; Drake’s expected to sell 600,000 to 700,000 copies of his second album, “Take Care” (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Republic) this week, which will be one of the biggest debut weeks of the year.
But not that long ago, Drake was just a rapper hoping to transcend the Internet. “So Far Gone,” his breakout 2009 mixtape, was an Internet phenomenon that became something much greater, spawning radio hits and even garnering a pair of Grammy nominations, a first for a mixtape.
Unlike Mac Miller, Wale and Mr. Cole, Drake was a steady presence on radio for months leading up to the release of his 2010 debut album, “Thank Me Later,” which sold approximately 447,000 copies in its first week, and eventually went platinum. Drake had used the Internet as a springboard to the old-fashioned sort of fame.
But even Drake, now part of the establishment, isn’t above working within the new model. After the singles from “Thank Me Later” dried up, he spent much of last summer stoking the flame for “Take Care” with free songs released on his blog — some of which ended up on the album, and others that now live only in the Internet’s memory. If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/19/a...le-free-music-pays-off.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
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