When Wu-Tang proclaimed that 'Cash Rules Everything Around Me', what they really meant was: free stuff is usually crap.  Following the C.R.E.A.M edict, the vast majority of mixtapes are free, and thus, terrible.  For the occasional highlight that most mixtapes contain, listeners are served up a deluge of shitty production, weak rhymes, endless album shout-outs and phoned-in guest appearances.  For every good one (Lil Wayne’s excellent Da Drought 3) there are ten horrible ones (The Cool Kids coma-inducingly boring Gone Fishing), leaving mixtapes the domain of hardcore heads and the mildly masochistic.

Wale (pronounced wah-lay), however, makes mixtapes for all of us. His last outing, The Mixtape About Nothing, was not only the best mixtape of the year but one of the best albums of 2008, period.  The Seinfeld-themed record put the world on watch with tight, thoughtful rhymes, and a concept that easily could have felt like a joke were it not for Wale’s commitment and focus throughout.  The mixtape was huge, Wale was hyped as the next big thing, and talk immediately turned to his upcoming LP Attention: Deficit.

And yet, with a single on radio and the studio release looming, Wale has again staked his reputation on a mixtape.  Back to the Feature features 22 tracks and, true to its name, more than two dozen guest appearances.  For all of those competing voices, though, the record never feels crowded, and the guest appearances sound genuinely inspired across the board.  The album shoutouts are kept to a bare minimum, making BTTF sound like a product unto itself, and the tracks are peppered with funny stories like Wale asking Jean Grae over Twitter if she will contribute a verse.  The production lags at times, with 9th Wonder (of Big Brother fame) producing half the tracks and getting a tad sleepy on occasion, but overall it’s a solid outing that more than lives up to the lofty expectations set by Wale's last release.

BTTF’s biggest fault, perhaps, is that it is too good.  Being the king of the mixtape is akin to giving a gift in a gift-bag: It’s nice and all, but it doesn’t prove you can (w)rap.  For all of Wale’s strengths, he is continually criticized as a second-tier lyricist, one that covers his weaknesses with a revolving door of guest stars.  Wale has treated this as a challenge on BTTF, and for the most part proves he can hang with the best in the game.  On ‘Hot Shyt’ he runs with Philly’s finest in Peedi Peedi, Black Thought, Tu Phace and Young Chris and closes the track with one of his tightest verses, finishing with: “I’ma get me some action/Who said I won’t do it/I’ma take you out the game/You Mutombo to us.”

For all of his commendable bravado, however, nothing on a mixtape is going to shake Wale’s reputation as the best in the minor leagues.  Back to the Feature is, as expected, the C.R.E.A.M of the mixtape crop.  Whether he can join Wu-Tang in the big leagues and drop a few edicts of his own has yet to be determined.   

Download Back to the Feature and The Mixtape About Nothing here.
Attention: Deficit available September 22nd.