Wale clearly remains frustrated with his inability to ascend to the top tier, and on Nothing he presents himself as a rap-industry antagonist.

On 'The Helium Balloon', one of the more interesting songs on the album, he laments his reception as an artist, adding 'Still know what my core needs/ So fuck who ignores me.' What follows isn’t so much the diligent fan service all this promises, though, so much as a muddied collage of attempts at current trends and a lot of sour disaffection. But Wale doesn’t have to rely on audio clips from 'Seinfeld' anymore: He has Jerry, himself (the two are friends, and Jerry even name-dropped him as one of his 'top five' in Top Five) providing the sound bites. And once again, the voice of Jerry Seinfeld acts as commentary, stitching the tracks together thematically. The intro is informed by go-go, D.C.’s signature reworking of funk, and a sound he used frequently early in his career. The Album About Nothing begins by holding a mirror to Wale’s past, which reflects some of the trappings of his more-famous present. So what does it mean that after all of this push-and-pull, his fourth studio album finds him gazing back towards his origins? Through it all, he struggled to exude palpable confidence. Wale promptly eschewed that sensibility for guest verses on songs like Waka Flocka Flame’s strip club paean 'No Hands' and Ross’ my-cum-tastes-good commercial 'Diced Pineapples'.

This was around the time when the first wave of 'weirdo' nerd guys like himself, Charles Hamilton, a pre-pop B.o.B and Kid Cudi were springing forward-emotional, obsessed with melody, ambitious, accessible. And the critical failure of his last album, 2013’s The Gifted, must have shaken him to his core, because at first blush, his latest effort, The Album About Nothing, screams 'return-to-form.' Its title nods to his 2008 'Seinfeld'-referencing breakout The Mixtape About Nothing, a freebie hosted by Fool’s Gold impresario Nick Catchdubs. rapper has found success but has never seemed comfortable with it. Since his 2011 alliance with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music, the D.C. Wale’s alignment with the Top 40 rap crowd never felt like a healthy fit.

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