Wale has always been in a class of his own in Hip Hop. He’s not overly conscious, yet he avoids falling into the trendy trap trenches. His style is somewhere in the middle, sprinkled with elements of pop and poetic appeal. Wale has quietly delivered some of Hip Hop’s most poignant hits in recent years, including “Bad”, “Lotus Flower Bomb” and “The Matrimony”. Although he may have pushed the issue for his own recognition in the past, his rhymes back it up. His 2015 full length LP, The Album About Nothing, didn’t take home any Grammy award wins. However, he would have been well deserving if he won. After all, he had enough clout to snag Seinfield to be his sidekick throughout the entire album.

The underappreciated rapper dropped a new, 4 song EP, entitled It’s Complicated, last week. He kicks in with strong lyrical content on the title track. The melancholy song details why relationships are so difficult for him. “Don’t ask me about my love life,” he says. He’s cautious to fully submerge himself in love (“You show too much of your heart, I promise they confiscate it”). The song honestly would have had just as much effect if he performed it acapella. Then he glides into Black Bonnie, with Jocques (the EP’s only featured artist). This track is a contrast to its predecessor. Here, Wale raps about having the perfect queen by his side, his “Black Bonnie”.

None of the songs on It’s Complicated are pop friendly. However, the intricately placed bird chirps and slightly mid tempo BPM of “Effortless” is the closest to a mass appeal offering. The song has some reminiscent elements of the LL Cool J classic, “Around The Way Girl”. He closes out the EP with “Let It Go”, an R&B infused internal battle about…..yep, you guessed it. Relationships. Wale raps that relationships should all be like yachts that we get on and off in timely order. There’s no word yet on when his next studio LP will drop, but this will keep his fans’ attention for a while.