Wale "Chillin"

Wale, a go-go influenced hip-hop artist out of DC, will release his debut album Attention Deficit later this summer. The first single off the album, the Cool and Dre produced "Chillin", has been taking up some space on our iPods for a minute now. Wale just finished wrapping up filming for the video side of things and released the debut today.

The song is simply a nod to a good time so don't look for anything deeper than that. But it is what it is and it does what it does, and quite frankly, that's just fine with us. It's a hit or miss in some circles but that's essentially what Wale is. You gotta get it to get it. And if you don't, we know he's gonna try and work hard to make sure you do. This song, and the album as a whole, doesn't nod to his go-go roots as much as his past mixtape work and according to him, "his next project after this will.." But it serves as a great introduction to Wale as an artist and something that can find him some heavy rotation in a variety of markets.

The video was shot in Boston and DC and directed by the famed Chris Robinson. By Wale's own admission there's no real treatment or direction to the video, which we'd be remiss to say we wouldn't like to see, but not every video can be a Kanye-esque type production. Hell, most of Jay's "party" video's had no real direction.

The song and video feature Lady Gaga which we think is a solid look. Not only because we're feeling her swag as an artist in her own right, but it's nice to see Wale electing to work with the not so obvious choice (both Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani were originally considered). Minus points come from the deletion of most of Lady Gaga's doper scenes from the final treatment, in which she's basically featured in one setting and one fit throughout. But shout-outs to Bun B who is featured heavily in the video. And shout-outs to the shoestring font used in the opening, the dog rockin' the Beats By Dr. Dre headphones, and the decision to go with the disgustingly sick AMG Edition SL65 over a traditional GT Coupe or something else of the sort.

PROPS on the commercial debut out the gate Wale.

OFFICIAL FIRST SINGLE: "Chillin"


BEHIND THE SCENES: "Chillin"


DIRECTOR CHRIS ROBINSON SPEAKS ON VIDEO