Wale and the Omnipresent "What If" Question

I will always remember where I was that fateful day Wale Folarin was gunned down outside the MMG offices. It's one of those moments that sticks in your head when you are from the DMV, alongside when Len Bias died and when Marion Barry got set up by that "bitch". It is yet another sad hip-hop tale. You know the story: budding career, buzz getting louder, record labels flocking. Yet this hit home like none since Tupac and Big. I backed this guy. I know I was late but from the time I first heard "Mixtape About Nothing" I knew this MoCo repper was going to do it big. He had everything from witty punchlines to deep story sessions. He could hit you with a sports zinger and follow it up with an ode to treating our women better. All the while he infused that Go-Go sound that the D Dot is so well known for. So the question is "what if?". What if Wale had chosen to wait for a more "hip-hop friendly" record label? What if that crazed gunman (you know who you are) never set up shop outside Rick Ross' kitchen? I know a lot of you will say he would have gone pop, he would have made strip club songs. When you look at the record label he was going to sign to, that's an understandable assessment. But who knows what would have happened. Suppose his desire to make quality music and his grind would rub off on his fellow label-mates. Suppose Rick Ross started rapping about the real life rigors of being a CO; the threats received from inmates, the relatively poor pay-to-danger ratio, not to mention the need to work out and stay in semi-decent shape. The struggle is real. Suppose Meek Mill started rapping about how he enjoys tandem bike rides in the summer. He could have accomplished big things. The truth is, we will never know. Rest in Peace Olubowale('s rap career). We miss you.



I'll leave you with two of many of my favorites:

Wale - The Flight "I'm like a parapaleeg, I don't know defeat... or never felt it."

 Wale - The Artistic Integrity (all jokes aside this song is the epitome of irony) "I'll never back up like Cleo Lemon on myself"