Album Review: Wale — Everything Is a Lot

Written by Malik Perkins
November 28th, 2025

Wale’s new album feels like when a character in a movie finally sits down after everything falls apart and just tells the truth. No performance. No armor. No saving face. Just honesty. Everything Is a Lot carries that energy from the first track to the last. It’s reflective without being sad, grown without being tired, and confident without that loud insecurity we hear so much in rap today.

The production hits you first. It’s warm and soulful, like the kind of music that plays while the camera slowly follows someone walking through their city at night, thinking about life. Every beat feels chosen with intention. This isn’t a playlist. It’s a film score for the version of Wale who’s lived enough to stop pretending he’s fine.

Then the features start showing up and the whole world of the album expands. Leon Thomas on “Watching Us” is one of those perfect casting decisions. Leon has been having an incredible year, and his voice glides through the song like light slipping through blinds in a quiet apartment scene. Wale opens up on that track in a way that shows he trusts the moment. They bring out something real in each other.

BNYX shows up with his own spark. Teni and Seyi Vibez bring color and rhythm that somehow feel effortless in Wale’s world. ODUMODUBLVCK comes in like someone kicking open a door. Ty Dolla Sign slides on his feature like he’s been doing it his whole life. And Shaboozey shows up toward the end like a character who helps close the story with emotion instead of spectacle. None of it feels forced. These features feel like people who understand the conversation Wale is trying to have.

And as you move through the album, you can’t help but remember when Wale came in. That era with Cole, Kendrick, Drake and Big Sean wasn’t normal. That was a generation where every rapper had something to say and the pressure was insane. Listening to Everything Is a Lot, you’re reminded that Wale wasn’t just in that class. He belonged there. The craftsmanship. The honesty. The perspective that comes from actually living life and not pretending to.

What makes the album hit even harder is the length. Eighteen tracks in 2025 is wild. Everybody else is dropping ten-minute snack packs designed for clicks. Wale gives you a full plate. He gives you time to sit in the music, let it breathe, let it mean something. It feels almost rebellious in a world where everything is supposed to be short, catchy and disposable. This album feels like someone saying, “You’re going to get to know me again… properly.”

By the end, you feel like you’ve watched a complete story. Not a comeback. Not a rebrand. Just a man with something real to say who finally says it without worrying how it’ll land.

Everything Is a Lot is thoughtful, personal and beautifully put together. It’s Wale sounding like himself again, and maybe even better than before.