The 25 Best Wale Songs

We count down the best songs from Wale Folarin's catalog.

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Complex Original

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Wale's catalog runs deep. Ever since he broke onto the scene with "Rhyme of the Century,"  the D.C. rapper has gone on to drop eight mixtapes—​including his breakthrough project The Mixtape About Nothing—​release three solo albums, and play an integral role in the rise of Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group. In the process, Wale has tallied up several hit singles, a No. 1 album with his 2011 release Ambition, and a lane nearly no other rapper can occupy. 

As Wale works toward the release of his fourth studio album, The Album About Nothing, and with today being a ceremonious occasion for the rapper (happy 30th birthday!), we felt it was only right to shine a light on the records that have shaped Wale's career over the last decade. From deep mixtape cuts to Billboard hits, the D.C. rapper has delivered a number of notable tracks worthy of praise. These are The 25 Best Wale Songs.

Written by Edwin Ortiz (@iTunesEra) and Justin Charity (@BrotherNumpsa)

29. Wale “Dig Dug (Shake It)” (2005)

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Producer: Southeast Slim

Album: Paint a Picture

Label: N/A

Wale's start in rap included a handful of regionally-acclaimed freestyles and his 2005 mixtape, Paint a Picture, which was anchored by "Dig Dug (Shake It)." The record paid homage to Ronald "Dig Dug" Dixon, a percussion player in the Northeast Groove go-go band, who were sampled on this upbeat cut from producer Southeast Slim. Wale delivers four sharp-witted verses, bigging up his city and dropping Nike SB references, something he's still known to do today. "Dig Dug" became a highly touted song in the D.C. area, gaining radio play without any promotion, turning Wale into a local celebrity. —Edwin Ortiz

28. Wale “The Artistic Integrity” (2008)

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Producer: Best Kept Secret

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

For as long as Wale has been on, the D.C. rapper has dealt with accusations of not "staying true to his roots," a burdensome accusation he's had to fend off at every turn in his career. On "The Artistic Integrity" off his breakout project The Mixtape About Nothing, Wale contends it's not he who changed, but the people surrounding him. "See, welcome to fame, where most of us is gon' change/If you never do, still niggas look at you strange." Wale's ability to remain resilient in the face of criticism has been a strength in his career, with this song leading his cause. —Edwin Ortiz

27. Wale f/ The Budos Band “The Chicago Falcon Remix” (2008)

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Producer: Mark Ronson, Eli Escobar

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

With disco gusto, the Budos Band's "Chicago Falcon" flips as one of the funkier, fast and furious beats of Wale's catalog. What pulls this particular remix together, however, is the mercurial invincibility of Wale's verses, especially the second, with its extended Seinfeld metaphor and homonym​ play. "My (Co)stanzas stand like Phantoms or Maybachs/You won't get a lane if you came wack." Mark Ronson had to run that back. —Justin Charity

26. Wale “Chain Music” (2011)

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Producer: Tone P

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

Wale's wordplay is on full display on "Chain Music," where he delivers slick lines like "Keep a gold chain, hoes changed, I didn't/They say that karats help your vision/But somehow it made them listen" and "Trying to give them light and a message/But you rather have some fucking V.V.S.'s" over Tone P's smooth backdrop. His tongue-in-cheek rhymes also double as half-truth here, because let's face it; you can't be anywhere near the rap game and not obsess over a platinum pendant. Wale is aware of this, not to mention the ladies who get open over the sight of a man with material wealth. "I was hoping you would notice where my mind at/Put money in the book, I bet these bitches wouldn't find it." —Edwin Ortiz

25. Wale “Varsity Blues” (2011)

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Producer: Tone P

Album: The Eleven One Eleven Theory

Label: N/A

Wale is no stranger to football, having played at the collegiate level before focusing on rap. His knowledge of the game shines through on "Varsity Blues," a track that looks at the inequalities found in college sports. Like, for example, the way black players are treated differently than their white teammates: "Thank God for what I did with blocking against this shaky defense/They don't think you a nigga as long as you fill up they bleachers/Yeah they always defend you, look how they say your name/But if you rupture a tendon I bet them feelings change."

Or the fact that universities make millions off college sports, with no incentive available for players. "Thank you for they tuition, thank you for room and board/Most of them niggas got no pot to piss doing four," he raps. This has recently become a public issue, with a judge ruling the NCAA must allow colleges to pay athletes. That judge must have heard Wale's wisdom darts.  —Edwin Ortiz

24. Wale f/ Lloyd “Sabotage” (2011)

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Producer: Cloudeater

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

Wale doesn't often focus on love and heartbreak, but the D.C. rapper has done a pretty consistent job of implementing these themes into his music nonetheless. His 2011 single "Sabotage" captures the latter, with Wale spilling his heart about a relationship that can never find a happy medium, causing him to lose his voice (literally) in the process. "You say you ready, you ain't ready enough/Cause when it fall right in your lap, you be ready to get up." 

Hearing Lloyd is a little awkward here, considering Sam Dew of Cloudeater originally sang the hook on their own song by the same name. But don't worry, Cloudeater receive proper credit for their part. —Edwin Ortiz

23. Wale f/ Wiz Khalifa & Tre “The Breeze (Cool)” (2010)

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Producer: Mark Henry Beats

Album: More About Nothing

Label: The Board Administration

After disappointing sales of his Attention Deficit debut (via Interscope) in the final quarter of 2009, Wale's subsequent More About Nothing mixtape dragged the rapper back to the drawing board. As with The Mixtape About Nothing, Wale's More features less introspection and decisively "conscious" commentary than Attention Deficit, and more dancing, more dexterity and wit via wordplay and self-deprecation. "Due to my underselling, no, I did not get that Bentley," he raps on this particularly sunny jawn. "But this AMG will do for now, and you niggas won't catch me." Wale's got a few joints with Wiz ("Rotation," "I'm Still"); by far "The Breeze" is the coolest. Naturally. —Justin Charity

22. Wale f/ Rick Ross & Jeremih “That Way” (2011)

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Producer: Lex Luger

Album: Self Made Vol. 1/ Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

Early Wale tracks like "Rising Up," "Jay Joint," and "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." established Wale as a funky, thoughtful, frequently anxious rapper who nonetheless dabbled in dance and wanton flirtation. If his post-Warner transition to MMG surely promised anything, it was via claim to rap's most powerful, extravagant soundscape of millionaire playboy beats. MMG's Bad Boy Redux aesthetic and production styling meant Wale could spit that game over the slickest beats money could buy in 2011. "That Way" is among both Wale (obviously) and Lex Luger's best, and we thank god for the seraph named Jeremih. —Justin Charity

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19. Wale f/ Tre “The Friends N Strangers” (2010)

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Producer: Kosmik

Album: More About Nothing

Label: The Board Administration

Just a couple years after MF DOOM flipped this soft-jazzy sample of R&B instrumentalist Ronnie Laws' "Friends and Strangers," Wale spit his own take. Here the drums kick way harder, a stomp-driven rhythm that further dramatizes Wale's account of trifling manhood, a pregnancy scare, and the disintegration of a romance. More About Nothing marks the end of Wale's storyteller flexing, with "The Friends N Strangers" holding strong in the tradition of tracks such as "The Kramer," in which he has something to say without getting bogged down by message and meaning. —Justin Charity

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17. Wale f/ TCB “Bait” (2011)

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Producer: Tone P

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

While Wale was enjoying renewed success as Maybach's poetic-in-residence in 2011 with the release of Self Made Vol. 1, there was a concern the D.C. rapper would, yes, forget his roots. That notion was silenced with "Bait," his go-go track for the ladies that doubles as a celebration of his city. Wale shouts out several prominent people and places over Tone P's infectious melody, but not before getting back to the theme of the record. "Girl stop being fallacious, this Mercedes is spacious/Black and white through the city, guess this is gentrification." This can be a mean strip club anthem on the right night. Wale would lock in a record just like that a few years later with "Clappers." —Edwin Ortiz

16. Wale “The Kramer” (2008)

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Producer: Best Kept Secret

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

This one dropped a little more than a year after comedian and Seinfeld actor Michael Richards' infamous "nigger" rant at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood, which pretty much fucked black people's relationship with Seinfeld forever. In the spirit of Jay Z's "Meet the Parents" and A Tribe Called Quest's "Sucka Nigga," Wale's "The Kramer" is an allegorical rap, about a black kid's vulnerability growing up among white teens with minimal grace in their racial-awareness "So they just keep going, saying 'nigga' in his face/There's nothing he can do, he let it get away/It came to the point he couldn't look 'em in the face/The mirror made him hurl, his reflection disgraceful." Over go-go drums and a sample of Richards' own shouting first, whimpering later. —Justin Charity

15. Wale “The Perfect Plan” (2008)

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Producer: Best Kept Secret

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

So-called "ringtone rap" was at its peak in 2008. Wale offered an alternative vision on "The Plan," where in so many words he asked fans to shift their focus toward quality content over the latest dance craze. "Respect has grown inferior to fucking SoundScan/If that don't sound bad you should ban me/I don't give damn about grands, see my mind's on a Grammy." Even with this distinction, Wale also chided fans for illegal downloading, because damn, he's got to eat too. Wale's candor on a topic that still is an issue to this day is much appreciated. —Edwin Ortiz

14. Wale f/ Chrisette Michele “Shades” (2009)

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13. Wale f/ Rihanna “Bad (Remix)” (2013)

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Producer: MexManny​

Album: The Gifted

Label: MMG/Atlantic

Wale's 2013 single captured a polished R&B feel, with him cleverly describing the type of women he falls for: Confident, independent, and not giving one fuck what others think. The inclusion of Rihanna on the remix added an extra layer of sensuality to the track, which made this a hit for Wale on the charts and, we're guessing, in the bedroom. —Edwin Ortiz

12. Wale f/ Big Sean “Slight Work” (2011)

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Producer: Diplo

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

Wale grabbing Diplo for this ambitious club anthem couldn't have turned out any better. The D.C. rapper strays from his usual sound, embracing a catchy moombahton backdrop that was ahead of the curve in 2011. The song is filled with memorable quotables, most notably "Lot of intuition, I ain't never finished college" and "You race to these broads, I relay and baton 'em​." Big Sean shows out on the track, too, rapping, "Bitch you ain't a boss 'til you cut a fuckin' paycheck/Only thing between me and your bitch is a latex​." The best part about "Slight Work" is that Wale makes it sound so effortless, which fits the title of the record perfectly.  —Edwin Ortiz

11. Wale f/ Sam Dew “LoveHate Thing” (2013)

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Producer: Tone P, Stokley Williams, Sam Dew

Album: The Gifted

Label: MMG/Atlantic

Like "The Strangers N Friends," "LoveHate Thing" is another standout moment of reflection from Wale, who raps about the envy that comes with seeing more 0s in his bank account, especially from his inner circle of peers. "I lost a lot of friends, and they ain't even dead/When I was on my way up, why you ain't see the stairs?" The vibe of "LoveHate Thing" is enhanced by Sam Dew's brilliant vocals and soulful production from frequent collaborator Tone P, who deliver a melodic urgency to Wale's words. —Edwin Ortiz

10. Wale f/ Rick Ross & Jadakiss “600 Benz” (2011)

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Producer: Cardiak

Album: Self Made Vol. 1

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

"600 Benz" is Wale straight stuntin' without even having the means to cop a Mercedes. And that's no shots. He explicitly raps about this connection, using a six-figure car as a metaphor for his drive. "This that I been grindin' cause I’ve been savin' for that Benz flow," Wale quips over Cardiak's monstrous backdrop. Everything else about "600 Benz" makes this feel like a braggadocious cut. Jadakiss' fiery verse, Rick Ross' gruff delivery on the hook. But it's Wale's ambition laid bare that makes the track shine: "Rozay told me keep on working, shawty you’ll be rich forever​." Sound advice that has clearly worked in his favor.  —Edwin Ortiz

9. Wale f/ Nicki Minaj & Juicy J “Clappers” (2013)

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Producer: Mark Henry Beats, No Credit, Juicy J

Album: The Gifted

Label: MMG/Atlantic

Whatever anxieties Wale's local fanbase had, and continues to host, regarding Wale's ditching of Mark Ronson and Nick Catchdubs for MMG, "Clappers" is his distinctly D.C. pop hit, complete with Dickensian commentary on the state of D.C. during Obama II: "The white boy with the funnel; gentrifying, that's what's up." Wale, Juicy J, and Nicki Minaj over a massive trap go-go interpolation is a conference that I'd never have dreamed up, but the shit works. This shit is glorious. R.I.P., Chuck. Justin Charity

8. Wale f/ Bun B, Pusha T & Tre “Back in the Go-Go” (2008)

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Producer: Best Kept Secret

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

Five years before "Clappers," Wale was hardly removed from his obvious go-go influences, even on tracks with artists hailing from beyond the DMV. "Back in the Go-Go" is one of two tracks from The Mixtape About Nothing that samples Curtis Mayfield's "Short Eyes." Here, signature collaborators Best Kept Secret rip Jay Z's vocals from Just Blaze's rather dissimilar flip of the same Mayfield cut for "American Gangster." BKS's take is a busy beat, laced with marimbas, a cluttered bridge harmony, a valedictory Bun B feature, plus a verse from then-resurgent Pusha T. —Justin Charity

7. Wale f/ Miguel “Lotus Flower Bomb” (2011)

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Producer: Jerrin Howard

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

Wale wears vulnerability well on "Lotus Flower Bomb," a record that plays up his ability to be intimate without taking himself too seriously. "Navigating through her eyes, destination to her thighs/And I hate to tell you too much, 'cause I stay with too much pride," he raps over Jerrin Howard's lush melody, hoping to score with a girl at a nightclub. Even when he drops silly pick-up lines, there's a sincerity in Wale's flow that can't be overlooked, a move that shows his growth since coming in as a perceived backpack rapper. Miguel's suave vocals take "Lotus Flower Bomb" to the next level. —Edwin Ortiz

6. Waka Flocka Flame f/ Roscoe Dash & Wale “No Hands” (2010)

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Producer: Drumma Boy

Album: Flockaveli

Label: 1017 Brick Squad/Warner Bros./Asylum

Wake Flocka Flame had a few nominal hits prior to "No Hands," but it was this Drumma Boy-produced banger that put the Atlanta rapper on the map. Wale played a significant role in the success of the record as well, who slowed down his flow, turned up his swag, and delivered a memorable performance that proved he could switch up from the norm and still be Folarin throughout. This stylistic change would inadvertently open up new doors for Wale, including his eventual signing with Rick Ross and Maybach Music Group. —Edwin Ortiz

5. Wale “W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E.” (2007)

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Producer: Justice

Album: 100 Miles & Running

Label: N/A

The genre-bending remix of French dance duo Justice's biggest hit launched Wale complete with signature dexterity and indefatigable wordplay of sports terminology and hypebeast concern: "I bring creatine to the scene/Your developmental league don’t see a team/I got a stitch, lil' nigga, you can see my seam/Spit selvage, my nigga; it's in my genes." In 2007, there was little warning of Wale's ascent, until "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." started tallying into the tens of thousands on YouTube. The track is tongue-twisting, breathless, fearless, and funny, with Wale sputtering to conclusion of his second verse, an extended shout-out to various curbs and turn-up venues of east D.C. "I can't hear you little niggas in Ibiza, bitch!/ With some lesbians that don't know En-g-lish!" —Justin Charity

4. Wale f/ Lil Wayne “Nike Boots (Remix)” (2008)

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Producer: Osinachi

Album: The Mixtape About Nothing

Label: N/A

2009 was a banner year for the mixtape game, with breakout releases from upstarts like Drake, Nicki Minaj, and J. Cole, just to name a few. The year was a disaster, however, for Wale; despite a string of regional hits from 2007 and 2008, the flop of his debut album obliterated Wale's momentum and forced a rethink of his previously winning formula.

Already "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." was homeboy's breakout freestyle a couple years prior, but in 2008, "Nike Boots" was the immediate assurance of Wale's ambition for a regional hit record. Remember, this was back in 2008, when D.C. and Baltimore were relatively sparse and insular rap scenes, standoffish even vs. one another. Yet "Nike Boots," with its screwed hook and ghastly bounce, was a hit bigger than you'd have then guessed a D.C. rapper capable of dropping. It helped that this was the final stretch of Lil Wayne's willingness to hop on literally any given rapper's mixtape cuts to kick a freestyle for the remix: "If it's bullshit you want, bullshit I shall." —Justin Charity

3. Wale f/ Gucci Mane & Weensey “Pretty Girls” (2009)

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Producer: Best Kept Secret

Album: Attention Deficit

Label: Allido/Interscope

​Wale's major label debut single—"Chillin," featuring an uninspired Lady Gaga hook—came and went, a failure that proved costly for the rappers future with Interscope. His biggest record from Attention Deficit turned out to be "Pretty Girls." Unlike "Chillin," it was lively, catchy, and a great record.

Wale floats over Best Kept Secret's trill go-go backdrop, sounding as comfortable as ever as he played the role of D.C.'s new star. This demeanor was exactly what Wale needed to succeed. Even if his early run on a major didn't end so well, "Pretty Girls" was proof he could make strides as a commercial artist with lyrical appeal. 

It didn't hurt that Gucci Mane was involved, either, whose playfully crude rhymes were on full display. "Ugly girls quiet, pretty girls riot." Fair enough. And you can't hate on Gucci for biggin' up Blasians. Infinite emoji praying hands for Blasian girls. —Edwin Ortiz

2. Wale f/ Meek Mill & Rick Ross “Ambition” (2011)

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Producer: T-Minus

Album: Ambition

Label: MMG/Warner Bros.

As a self-issued nickname, "Double M Genius" was Wale's polite suggestion that regardless of Maybach Music Group's abundant Bad Boy fetishism and gangsta rap proficiency, Rick Ross would always have a Renaissance Man on deck. While Wale's first solo MMG project features successful radio gambits like "Lotus Flower Bomb," "Slight Work," "Sabotage," and "That Way," Ambition also reprises the thoughtful, anxious D.C. rapper—self-serious to a fault—who’d kept everyone guessing, once and again, with his electronic dance remixes, his Seinfeld concept mixtapes, his go-go crossover attempts featuring Gucci Mane. Wale’s always been a misfit. Given the development of certain tensions within MMG this past summer, his position does lately seem precarious; maybe he's indeed better off on his own, fully solo, free from the MMG brand. But for a brief, prolific stretch from 2011 through 2012, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Wale were rap’s insurgent brigade of 808s and projectile corks, a celebration largely due to MMG’s Rich Forever in January 2012 and, released just a couple months earlier, Wale's Ambition.


On the album's title-track, Wale challenges labelmates Rick Ross and Meek Mill to abandon the severity and hype of their respective personas; Wale's ceding the intro verse to Meek yields one of the most direct, clear-eyed deliveries of his career to date. Ross' verse is somber and introspective to a degree that was then increasingly rare in Ross' own catalog, at least since "Rich Off Cocaine" from 2009's Deeper Than Rap: “I saw mama praying as she wait on results/It’s hot in the kitchen; can I wait on the porch?/My father was missing.” As the bridge clears, and the piano twinkle refocuses, recharges to the point of outburst, raging from vulnerability (“As long as your mama love you, don’t ever love a woman.”) to contempt (“I retire you niggas; fuck you and your position/Their place-holding so slippery niggas can’t even kick it.”) with impeccable trajectory. Wale goes off. His bark and those drums do their career-best to demolish that piano.


Overall, Ambition was an unexpected feat for an artist who, despite public introspection and prickliness, is ever-increasingly a collaboration-driven artist with a surplus of posse hits to his credit. The album's title track isn't the rapper's biggest hit, but it's Wale at his most supremely confident, nigh impossible to love him for his impatience or immodesty or ill-temper, alas: "They gon' love me for my ambition." —Justin Charity

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