

By: Sam Haywood

Author’s Note: “Festivus” is a holiday conceived during one of Seinfeld’s final episodes titled “The Strike,” and is the framework concept that makes up Wale’s latest effort.

2014: The year of leaked single spoilers. The pace of music consumption has adapted to an emerging generation of hiphop-heads that just doesn’t quite get how it’s all supposed to work. So, when a single is released ahead of a project, listeners are in full focus, critiquing every aspect of the track to determine if the future will deliver.

Wale’s first official preview of Festivus graced listeners in the form of “Chess,” an anthem with a Jerry Seinfeld-assisted intro that immediately gave old fans hope of a return to the DC’s veteran’s More About Nothing days.

The second release left little hope to this return. “Loyalty” seemed to provide the grimy MMG sound that has swallowed Wale’s talents, and ultimately turned off a large portion of his fan base. Despite this, one has to keep in mind…the era of download culture has transformed us. “Loyalty” is perhaps the perfect release in retrospect, because it captured the attention of the other half of his fans – the ones that expect turn-up anthems like “Clappers” from a Rick Ross-inspired empire.

With the appetizers already sampled, I was ready for the entree. I patiently waited by my laptop as I started to see Festivus streams pop up online around 3:40PM Tuesday afternoon. It was here I discovered that I had become the very kind of fan I’d grown to hate. My “patience” was based around the images and links I clicked on BEFORE instead of AFTER in anticipation of the project.

After getting halfway through, the download links started to appear. And so I clicked, and clicked some more. It was finally mine. What shaped my greed? What had I become? The attention grabbing details started small.

Festivus will be a Seinfeld inspired mixtape (one could suspect this as Wale preps The Album About Nothing). Festivus will be a collaborative mixtape with A-Trak (the College Dropout DJ gone EDM giant). Festivus will include features with Pusha T, Ab-Soul and Chance The Rapper, to name a few.

I was hooked from the beginning.

The project opener “Intro Stroke of Genius,” set the pace for a quick trip down memory lane. Within the opening minutes I knew this was truly a gift for himself, his fans and his city.

When it was announced in November that Wale had become the creative liaison of the Washington Wizards, I didn’t quite know what to expect, but immediately made naïve comparisons to Drake’s affiliation with the Toronto Raptors. Wale’s close relationship with superstar John Wall is no secret, and this new role seemed to be the icing on the Capital cake. This point in Wale’s career was sadly overlooked, as it really established the rapper as the current music icon of an entire city.

Festivus is Wale’s raw thank you letter to his community. Throughout the mixtape, listeners are exposed to the vulnerable and passionate artist from the ’09 XXL Freshmen class we grew to love.

I’ll spare you the details of my favorite songs and let you learn from my own mistakes as a fan, but I will say this: Festivus is a beautifully composed piece of work.

My personal resolution for 2015 is to change the way I listen to new music. This means less clicking, more waiting and essentially a greater listening experience on the actual release date. You should try it, too.



In the words of Kramer, Happy Festivus everyone.



Wale x A-Trak: “Festivus”