Savant & Co

4 out of 5 stars

Representing an entire metro is a large task for any rapper, but Wale has always risen to the challenge of being the only nationally known MC from Washington DC. The half-hipster, half-gangster, college educated rapper has had a bit of an identity crisis at times, but he has never had a crisis with his flows. It is a shame that Wale has had such middling mainstream success, because he has the chops to be a truly great, longstanding popular rapper.

In his newest mixtape, More About Nothing, Wale puts himself ever closer to the breakout he, and DC, needs. Anyone familiar with Wale knows two things; his mixtapes completely overpower his albums, and he is obsessed with Seinfeld.

Wale’s first Seinfeld-themed mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing, was 19 tracks of varying beats and flows that featured Seinfeld quotes that went along with the themes of each song. The outcome was something that was talented, quirky, creative, a little bit disjointed, but nevertheless enjoyable.

After releasing his album, Attention Deficit, to a less than receptive audience, Wale returns to his Seinfeld mixtape roots with More About Nothing.Thank God he did.

I have been listening to this mixtape for two months, and I am only getting more infatuated with it. Wale has attempted to cover every style of rap, every style of beat, and reference as many pop culture icons as popular, and the result is much more impressive than anything he has released.

The album begins with the spoken word soft jazz intro of The Problem, which then quickly morphs into ferocious rap verses…

“Ain’t nothin stoppin us, tell u what the problem is
I’m on top of my game but these n**** won’t acknowledge it
So a n**** hungry as a plastic hippopotamus
So stoppers better take it in the blood like a phlebotomist”

From there, Wale takes the listener on a journey from the funk rock beat of “The Soup” (which heavily quotes the Soup Nazi), The sitcomesque “Friends and Strangers”, the moody “Number Won”, the heartbreaking “The War”, the aggresive freestyle “The Work”, the acoustic weed anthem “The Cloud”, the anthemic “The Power”, and the completely gangsta “The Posse Cut”.

All along the way, Wale lays down references to everyone from Luke Ridnour to Doogie Howser to Sheryl Crow, which often takes more than one listen to catch. Some examples:

• “You’re Wins lower than Laura, cuz you n*** Urkel”
• “I turn Ducks into Bucks, Luke Ridnour”
• “Folarin not havin it, covering the track like a m********* laminate”
• “h20 flow, and I don’t like hold gate”
• “L.A. girls say I’m “hella tight”, I leave the haters like they lost a watermelon fight”

In the midst of this, Wale pulls off a brilliant portrayal of Tiger Wood’s struggles in “Eye of the Tiger”, accusingly describes the male psyche pre and post sex in “The Manipulation”, and describes the insecurities of a rapper in “The Flight”.

Wale’s lyricism has always been boundless in talent. More About Nothing shows Wale’s growth in forming cohesive songs to encapsulate his extraordinary rapping talent. He is also choosing better producers and better beats. The result is a great mixtape that overshadows some of the greatest albums put out this year. Here’s to Wale’s breakout, and more people being exposed to his talent.

Songs to check out:

• Black and Gold
• The Power
• The Work
• The Soup

Download the entire mixtape for free at

http://rapradar.com/2010/08/03/new-mixtape-wale-more-about-nothing/

Conor Oberst is going to reunite his rock band Desaparecidos for a concert against the Fremont Law. I find this exciting as I could not get enough of those guys back in the day. Maybe now they’ll be able to put out a new album, or maybe at least a live one. Also playing the concert will be Bright Eyes (of course), Cursive, Lullaby for the Working Class, and more.

More info on the event here. If you live near Omaha I would suggest attending.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor have returned from their hiatus and have already scheduled a handful of tour dates for the UK this December. Not much else has been released but they have promised more tour dates for America and more in Europe as well. This is exciting, I would love to see these guys live.

by Anthony Groen

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Blitzen Trapper are a folk rock band from Portland. On earlier albums I would say that they defied genre, bouncing from folk, to pop, to rock, to noise. One would assume from studying their discography that their music is following an arc of experimentation, which seems to have started settling into a cohesive sound. Along that journey, however, I would say that their music has become bland and uninteresting. I fairly enjoyed their last effort Furr, which had a few excellent songs, but Destroyer of the Void takes the already trodden path Furr took, mimicking the style of its best songs, and falls flat.

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By Brandon Ramlet

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Perhaps it may be a heightened sense of excitement since it’s World Cup season, but I loved this game. Having been an avid sports gamer since the late 90’s, FIFA 10 will not disappoint any gamer who has played any previous titles in the franchise. With amazing gaming visuals and incredibly in-depth controls, your experience will be unforgettable throughout your online and offline campaigns. 

The key new feature that make this game surpass all the rest is the 360-degree controls the gamer possesses. You can angle runs, shots and passes to your exact specifications, and it makes the world of difference to a game that was already a splendid simulation of the real thing. Ball physics remain excellent, with passes and shots accelerating and slowing with believable zip and inertia, but the ball is no longer so prone to ballooning over the crossbar, and cross-field passes are flatter and faster.

I am giving FIFA 10 a full 5/5. With in-depth managing simulation, competitive online match-play, and star player modes, this game will be difficult to beat next year.