Wale - Ice & Rain

When I spoke with Wale following his first performance in Minne-ap, the D.C.-Chillin’ emcee made clear that diversity and universality would be the chief foci of his debut set, expressing his hope to create music that would accompany listeners through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.  In contrast to our previous features off Attention: Deficit, which seemed designed for sunny days and hard-partying nights, Ice & Rain, an unreleased cut left off the LP’s tracklist and leaked via Twitter to celebrate Wale reaching 80,000 followers, finds the rapper sailing stormier emotional seas.  Over Cool & Dre‘s slow-burning beat, Chipmunk-sampled from James “D. Train” Williams’ Ice Melts into Rain, Wale spits the story of a suburban girl who runs away with a drug-dealing hustler—needless to say, a happy ending isn’t in the cards.  Though I&R is a far cry from the bouncy jams that Wale’s best known for, those who prefer their hip-hop hard-hitting and topical will be intrigued by the thematic and stylistic range he showcases here.  Those curious what else the emcee has up his sleeve can get the full picture Oct. 20th, when A:D  hits stores.