A Brief History of Wale ∪ BYB
Wale f/ Southeast Slim – “One Thing About A Playa“
from Paint A Picture (Mixtape, 2006)
Southeast Slim f/ Wale – “The Bomb“
from That Dope (Mixtape, 2008)
Wale – “Pretty Girls (Demo)“
Wale f/ Gucci Mane – “Pretty Girls“
Wale doing what he does best. Forget Lady Gaga and TV On The Radio just give Best Kept Secret or The Hitter Quitter Boyz a couple old PAs and let them go to town.
[Update: added the Gucci mix for the sake of completism.]
July 6th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
sounds good, but stil: lady gaga >>> wale.
July 6th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
“lady gaga >>> wale.”
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha. no.
July 6th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
No, but Mullyman, XO, Whitefolkz, and especially Kingpin Slim >>> Wale, and Wale has become (in my view) progressively more complacent, annoying and self-satisfied, to the point where I’m losing a lot of the interest I had in his music. He had circles rapped around him by Royce, Beans, Bun, Torae, Peedi, Jean Grae, Black Thought, Freeway, and… well, just about everyone else who was on that Back To The Feature tape. Even some random unknown called Tu Phace. And even K’Naan! If you are being outrapped by K’Naan, you have a problem… seriously. (c) Buhloone Mindstate.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
“One Thing About A Playa” is one of my favorite Wale cuts. If we’re talking the trad go-go sound, I like “Dig Dug” too. If you get around to it, I’m still looking for an entry point to Go-Go – a few links would be great, but a mix would be amazing.
July 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
i think the best kept secret was the main reason i liked the seinfeld tape
July 6th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
Yeah “Dig Dug” and “Break Down” also. But these Backyard records feel pretty explicitly like some sort of a series.
I have lived in DC for 8 years and I am still looking for an entry point to go-go. It’s not exactly the most accessible music if you haven’t grown up in it.
July 6th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
The general consensus on go-go seems to be that the best stuff is mostly heard on live cassettes.. A few people I know who grew up in DC in the 80s both said that trading of go-go tapes was VERY common in their high school. I just wish there was even a slight chance of me hearing even like 10% of that shit.
There are a couple of Trouble Funk live LPs that are pure fire though. They still play shows right?
July 7th, 2009 at 1:04 am
This guy is such a fucking herb.. I hope someone beats him up and takes his gay pink shoes
July 7th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I appreciate the info, Wale is a beast. I’m loving that new Wale and 9th Back to the Feature mixtape. Shit is crack!
July 7th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgQ7R6v2h5M
^the latest go-go to blow my mind. these younger bands are on some new, sloooooow shit.
July 7th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
http://dmvgogo.blogspot.com/
July 7th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
nice blog, there’s some backyard band featuring scarface & juvenile
July 7th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
that byb show with juve is killer
July 8th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Check out the track with Wale and Peter,Bjorn and John “Nothing to Worry About” – it’s awesome!!!!
http://www.rcrdlbl.com/artists/Wale/track/Nothing_To_Worry_About_f_Peter_Bjorn__John
July 10th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
What exactly is meant by “entry point to go-go”?
There are a ton of good go-go comps. The Good to Go soundtrack gives a good sense of the late 80s sound. The Dj Kool best of DC GoGo volume 2 feels like it was put together to be inviting to outsiders. It includes the Rick Rubin produced “The Word” (flipside of “Sardines”) which is an interesting song and, I’ve always wondered exactly how it came to be. It’s rare political song and really produced as almost an electro Bass track, Rubin tosses all that at Junkyard and they’re still able to create a nice go go tune. Feels like something that you could slip onto a mix between Liquid Liduid and 23 Skidoo and wouldn’t be out of place and still can fit on a go go mix. The “Beat: Go Go’s fusion of funk and hip hop” is a nice comp (accompanying book of same title) that covers a couple decades.
For live Go-go, I’d start with stuff recorded at prep school proms and dances. Junkyard playing for Sidwell prom don’t play as loose a set as they do at rec centers or nightclubs, and you get fewer long jams built around improvised shout outs to regulars or the photographer working the back of the room. A lot of go go’s charm is in those type of tracks, but I think they can be distracting for newcomers to the genre.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
[...] Deficit. First, off bad news for go-go fans – the Backyard sampling, Gucci Mane collab “Pretty Girls” “is the only record on the album that features the signature go-go [...]
September 10th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
MUCH LOVE TO SUPREME NECK PROTECTOR FOR THE SHOUT OUT.
FOR THE RECORD, I F**K W/ WALE. TALENTED DUDE AND ACTUALLY VERY HUMBLE AND DOWN TO EARTH IN PERSON.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HEARING MY MUSIC CHECK OUT:
http://WWW.TOPPDOGGHILL.COM
http://WWW.TWITTER.COM/WHITEFOLKZ
http://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/GODOFTHABLOCK
THANK YOU!
-FOLKZ
September 27th, 2009 at 2:04 am
whats the beat that track the bomb samples? i can’t sleep with this shit on my mind lol i need to know because i’ve heard it before
September 29th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Thats 96 Dope Jam from backyard band aka Thug Passion (later versions go by keep it gangsta, everyone falls, gangsta 4 life, around my way etc based on the intro, but theyre all variations on 96), its sampled from the studio album skillet (has the same intro and everything) though if you look through some of there live cds you can find cuts to some of those tracks that harder. Especially Rock Creek Park.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:10 am
Honestly, I got very mixed emotions about Wale. I’m from the DMV. I was very glad to hear him at first and all the go-go influence. Yet he has a history of bullshittin’. He took that “Dig-Dug” joint without Northeast’s permission and then claimed it was a tribute to Dig-Dug. Well, it’s really just “Off the Muscle”, an original NEG track, reworked into a Wale rap song. He put that out, he didn’t even pay them. Til’ they got mad at him. Then he did the same thing with pretty girls, I was at the club watching Backyard and G told us about how they weren’t giving Weensey and BYB credit. Wale’s trying to steal go-go for himself. I like what he’s doing, but he ain’t doing it right and got serious “kanye west syndrome” happening. He wants to be like Jay? I guess they got a few things in common, they used the Roots, they have a huge ego, and they steal from go-go (e.g. Jay-Z vs. Rare Essence).
November 25th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Wale’s “Attention Deficit” is properly entitled, it challenges most music listeners because most don’t listen to different forms of music, I say take the challenge. If nothing else, he and his executive producer should get props for having the courage to do more than just drop formular beat patterns. I say this, let him continue to grow (no he’s not JayZ yet and neither was JayZ Biggie then); kill artist like Wale and we kill the possibility for real hip-hop and alternative music (Go-Go outside the DMV) to live. DMV stand up – Soufeast!
July 15th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Hey, good post.