Ambition
The title of Wale’s sophomore album pretty much says it all—these songs are dripping with swagger and self-assertion, justified by the D.C. rapper’s relentless flow and brazen attitude. Released by the Maybach Music label of Miami mastermind Rick Ross, *Ambition* doesn’t take Wale away from his underground past so much as kick him up to the next level. Part of the album’s positive glow comes from the involvement of A-list collaborators—DJ Toomp cranks up the party quotient on “Legendary,” and Big Sean dives into the mix on “Slight Work.” For his part, Wale believably asserts himself as a man on the rise, shrugging off past triumphs while daring all comers to take him on. “Don’t Hold Your Applause” and the title track (featuring Ross and Meek Mill) combine gangsta cool with a seething inner desperation. Stretching *Ambition*’s boundaries are “Miami Nights” (a salute to Ross’ home base, spiced with smoldering horns), “Lotus Flower Bomb” (an intoxicating slow jam with an erotic kick), and “Illest B\*\*\*\*” (an affectionate salute to the ladies in his life).
On Wale's fast-moving, breezily entertaining, patently ridiculous Maybach Music debut, Rick Ross has taken a temperamental rapper whose name had become synonymous with commercial kryptonite and molded him into a passable pop star.
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The music industry isn’t known for its sustained pragmatism, but it’s still pretty crazy thinking about the roller coaster…
On the title track of his sophomore release, Washington, D.C. rapper Wale declares that “Ambition is priceless, it’s somethin’ in your veins.”