Ambition – Wale 

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2011	Ambition	Wale	★★★	62	Hip-Hop

In the opening moments of the second track of Ambition — Wale’s second album and first record as part of  Maybach Music Group — Wale says he’s one of the best thinkers of his class of young emcees. I don’t know if I’d rank him as a top-level wordsmith or creative, but he’s solid enough, has fun ideas and interests and, when deep diving his contemporaries in 2011, Wale definitely stood out at the time as one of the most authentic and purely hip-hop new voices in the game.   

Even though the beats are polished with an eye for the radio, the production throughout Ambition feels a lot more hip-hop forward than pop, which allows the record to stand the test of time more than so many others from the post blog-era. It’s a testament to executive producer Rick Ross and his team at Maybach Music Group to find beats that highlight his artists while giving them hits without making them feel like sellouts. Most of these tracks, even the ones with pop hooks or aesthetics, sound like songs vets like Ross would feel comfortable on (which is probably why he provides vocals on three of the songs).  

The most blatant pop moments here actually skew toward the R&B side of things vs. poppy hip-hop, which makes them work. “Lotus Flower Bomb” is a joy and one of the best singles of the era. Miguel sounds heavenly on it, and the light, warm keys and floating electronics make it a great, chill morning track that’s easy to sing along to. “Sabotage” has a welcoming guitar riff, and the mix of Lloyd and horns on the chorus makes for a dynamic, emotional hook.  “That Way” was his breakout hit as a solo artist and brings a smooth, sexy Jeremih chorus with some solid hip-hop verses from Wale and Rick Ross. And for a dance track, the Diplo-produced “Slight Work” featuring Big Sean relies more on samples than synths or electronics, making it a solid track that doesn’t feel like it was forced onto the record in an attempt to make a potential club hit. 

The star of the show though is the title track. T-Minus’s dark, reflective production — with deep rolling bass part and some dramatic string and bell samples — matches the most serious verses on the record by Wale, Ross and Meek Mill, discussing where they came from, their ambitions to succeed and to rise up from their individual situations. It sounds like Ross and Mill may have faced a bit more real-world challenges than Wale, who’s mostly just proving the “haters” wrong here, but the combo of lyrics from all three of them works really well. 

Beyond that, the rest of the album’s pretty darn consistent in quality overall. The upbeat, bouncy, “Miami Nights” has a horn part that’s reminiscent of Jay Z’s “Show Me What You’ve Got.”  “Legendary” has some interesting high-pitched string samples. “No Days Off” has a high-intensity beat that sounds cool and Wale sounds good on it. “Focused” featuring Kid Cudi sticks out a little bit in style, and “Chain Music” is nothing special, but neither are bad.