Wale finds vindication at Paradise

MUSIC REVIEW

November 02, 2011|By Julian Benbow, Globe Staff

Rapper Wale (pictured in New York in March) enjoyed the night leading up… (chad batka for the new york…)

WALE

With Black Cobain

At: Paradise Rock Club, Monday

The moment D.C. rapper Wale stepped onto the stage, which had already been preheated by Virginia emcee Black Cobain, the countdown officially started.

His show Monday night at the Paradise was more like an unofficial release party for his sophomore album, “Ambition,’’ and there was a little more than an hour left until it dropped.

His short career has been a weird one, high on underground buzz one minute and crashing under criticism of his debut album, “Attention: Deficit,’’ the next.

On Monday, he looked rejuvenated. An MMG chain hung from his neck flaunting the new and odd affiliation with Rick Ross’s Maybach Music Group, which unexpectedly pumped life into his career.

He was still defiantly proud of that first album. He performed “Chillin’,’’ sans Lady Gaga, with no shame. If anything, he was more comfortable breezing through it in the city where he shot the video.

Meanwhile, the clock kept ticking. He was noticeably puffed-up about the new project. “We gonna tell those [expletives], I told you so,’’ he said.

His records are bigger now, his lyrics crisper. And it feels like Ross is on every song - from “Fitted Cap,’’ an anthem for the resurrection of those caps Wesley Snipes wore in “White Men Can’t Jump’’ to “Chain Music,’’ on which “geechi’’ tries to push “bling’’ out of the lexicon. He took song requests and signed autographs onstage during the show.

The closer the clock crept to midnight, the looser he got, at one point asking for a blunt, then drinking straight from a bottle of alcohol. Tipsy and slurring words, he broke up “Play Your Part’’ to beg someone for a cellphone so he could drunk-tweet A&R reps who once ignored him.

“My phone’s dead,’’ he said. “Somebody go to the tour bus and get my charger. Log me into Twitter! Give me a computer! Something!’’

By the time the hard claps, heavy thumps, and echoing TCB sample for “Bait’’ hit, the stage was a champagne shower. The clock struck midnight. Shirtless, drenched, and euphoric, he said, “We did it.’’

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.