Wale - Shine [Clean]

SHINE SEASON ARRIVES EARLY! Maybach Music Group/Atlantic Records artist WALE has surprised fans releasing his fifth studio album SHINE, a week early. The album – which was originally set for release on May 5th – is now available everywhere. SHINE features collaborations with Major Lazer, Travis Scott, Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, G-Eazy, and even Wale’s daughter Zyla, to name a few. The album follows viral IGT tracks: ‘My PYT’, ‘Running Back (ft. Lil Wayne)’, ‘Fish n Grits (ft. Travis Scott)’ and ‘Fashion Week (ft. G-Eazy)’.

The Washington D.C. native broke news of his early during Wednesday’s 1633 x Genius Album Listening and Live Annotation Experience, moderated by Genius’ Rob Markman. The experience saw Wale playing unreleased music from SHINE and breaking down and sharing the meanings behind the lyrics as only he can. In addition to die-hard fans and industry tastemakers, guests included Joe Budden, Remy Ma and Papoose, Aminé and Maybach Music boss Rick Ross. You can watch the full live stream here. The MMG wordsmith capped off the night by joining Rick Ross for an electrifying performance of his hit “Trap Trap Trap” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Watch the performance here.

Wale will celebrate the release of SHINE with a major U.S. headline tour.

Wale is one of the most idiosyncratic talents in hip-hop today. In 2009, after releasing a series of acclaimed mixtapes, Wale released his debut album, ATTENTION DEFECIT. He signed with Rick Ross’ Maybach Music Group in 2011 and soon unveiled his breakthrough second album, AMBITION; the album debuted at #1 on both Billboard’s “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” and “Top Rap Albums” charts while also entering at #2 on the overall Billboard “Top 200 Albums” chart.

His third studio album, THE GIFTED was released in 2013 and proved a milestone, debuting at the #1 spot on the Billboard “Top 200 Albums” chart; an achievement he repeated with 2015 album THE ALBUM ABOUT NOTHING.

In addition to the release of THE ALBUM ABOUT NOTHING Wale partook in several high-profiled events at The White House, including First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Reach Higher” initiative for higher education, as well as becoming the first rapper to open the State Of The Union, performing right before President Obama’s final State Of The Union Address. Wale also joined forces with sneaker boutique, Villa, to release a limited edition collection of sneakers including the Asics “Bottle Rocket,” the Timberland “Gift Box Set” and the VILLA x Wale x ASIC Gel Lyte III "IC Champion.” He continues to develop and expand his EVERY BLUE MOON brand that includes musicians, comedians, screenwriters, as well as plans to launch a festival.