Stream Wale’s New Album ‘Folarin II’ f/ J. Cole, Rick Ross, and More
Written by SOURCE on October 22, 2021
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After being in the rap game for over a decade, Wale decided to give himself his flowers on his latest studio album, Folarin II.
A sequel to his 2012 mixtape Folarin, the D.C. rapper embraces his entire journey on this latest project. Wale spits with the tenacity of a talented player who had always been picked last for a sports team. He has a chip on his shoulder, yet it doesn’t weigh him down. Instead, he blends his frustration with the industry into a lyrical smoothie of pain, passion, and perseverance culminating in Folarin II. The road to success in rap hasn’t always been kind to him, but here Wale accepts the things he cannot control while simultaneously taking moments throughout the project to express his gratitude for all of the things he has accomplished.
Leading up to the release of the album, Wale sat down with Uproxx to reflect on his career and how he’s been able to block out the hate with all the love he receives.
“I’ve done a lot of things that I probably shouldn’t have done out of frustration and feeling like I’m not being heard, but I’m blessed,” he said. “And I’m just grateful. [I] got a legion of people that still fuck with me through my good and bad. Even though my bad hasn’t been as bad as some others bad, but my good and bad.”
That legion of fans can rejoice now that his latest project is upon them. Listen to Wale’s new album Folarin II below. Guests include J. Cole on the previously released “Poke It Out,” Rick Ross, Jamie Foxx, and Chris Brown, among others.
In an interview with Nadeska on Apple Music 1’s Rap Life Radio, Wale opened up about why he decided to release his second Folarin project now. “Because it feels like I’m just, it’s a different sound of Folarin 1, but I feel like a little bit how I felt back then,” he said. “The hunger is there, you know what I’m saying. I mean, and I never wasn’t hungry, but I’m just saying it’s just hitting a little different now. I’m saying a lot of things with my chest out and I think you can hear in the way that I’m delivering some of the raps, I’m just talking to you. I’m not rapping at nobody, I’m just really talking to you, the listener.”
