In a year filled with blockbuster album releases from a newly minted crop of rap veterans, one artist that has been biding his time is Wale. After he stepped back from the spotlight last year following his 2015 artistic statement with The Album About Nothing, Mr. Folarin is back in the swing of things with his latest body of work, Shine.

Announced last year, Shine garnered much intrigue from Wale's fans who wondered what tricks the rapper would have up his sleeve considering he's known as one of the more crafty and meticulous artists in rap. The wait for Shine may have been an extensive one, with the project initially being slated to drop in 2016, but the album has finally seen the light of day.

Running 14 tracks long, Shine, in contrast to The Album About Nothing, is an effort that meanders as opposed to sticking to a concept or theme, and is one of Wale's more engaging offerings. One aspect of Shine that stands out is its attention to collaboration, with Wale calling in the likes of Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Travis Scott, Major Lazer, WizKid, G-Eazy, Davido, Phil Ade and a host of other talent. Crossing genres and even languages on Shine, Wale puts together a lively album and takes a style over substance approach, although there is a good amount of poignant observations and moments of reflection also sprinkled throughout.

After giving Shine a few thorough spins, XXL has selected 20 of the best lyrics from Wale's latest that stand out and resonate the most.

  • "Thank God"

    Wale

    "It's too late, all you niggas two-faced/All you'll ever be good at is roll weed and playing 2K/Or maybe Madden and FIFA, that's why I brag when I see ya/If my bag ain't a bag, at least my integrity straight"

  • "Running Back"

    Wale Featuring Lil Wayne

    "Bitches want money stacks, I just want my percent/She told me to hit the hole, I used to play running back/You niggas be fumbling, don't you give 'em no gun again/These bitches be flying out, yeah, 'cause money be coming in" - Wale

  • "Running Back"

    Wale Featuring Lil Wayne

    "Look, my bitch is on Tumblr, your bitch need a tummy tuck/Since Jesus of Nazareth, the realest you've come across/I be with killers just coming home/They only hope is me and the Quran/They only wish is for a new chain/But they stuck up in the ankle bracelet" - Wale

  • "Running Back"

    Wale Featuring Lil Wayne

    "These bitches want money stacks/Me? I want a hundred stacks/These bitches selling their soul/Well, I want my money back/She bounce it like jumping jacks, but she got a funny ass/Look what them booty shots done to that/That bitch need her money back, Lord" - Lil Wayne

  • "Scarface Rozay Gotti"

    Wale

    "Look at you acting, I could put you in casting/'Cause my nigga will shoot you in the broad ways/Damn, I'm in the spot if you ask for me/Face Mob, acrobatic, got it tatted on me/Thank God I ain't out here paying alimony/Shawty I got married to the cake after matrimony"

  • "My Love"

    Wale Featuring Dua Lipa, Major Lazer and WizKid

    "My team, team, we on that new ting/My mink draggin' like it's Liu Kang/My show packed, all the dimes there/But I be falling back from all the loose change/I drop the top on that new thing/My chocolate broad, they rock Gucci" - Wale

  • "Fashion Week"

    Wale Featuring G-Eazy

    "You wanna sit front row?/Ask me get anything that you want, though/She a fashion killer, me I'm a cutthroat/Goin' out tonight, she said that she wants coke/1 Oak or Webster, up and down/Paparazzi gonna think that I'm cuffing now" - G-Eazy

  • "Colombia Heights (Te Llamo)"

    Wale Featuring J Balvin

    "Tuck all my diamonds, fuck the attention/Fuck wit the bitches, fuck with no effort/Just hit the projects to holler and check ya/Just hit up papi/Te llamo no bueno, te llamo no bueno, te llamo no bueno" - Wale

  • "CC White"

    Wale

    "New 600, cocaine white/New Air Ones, cocaine white/I knew I'd blow, propane like/But you know a nigga been nice/Six-Deuc this cocaine white/Talk about a grey knife/Seen niggas fade to black/All 'cause of that cocaine white"

  • "Mathematics"

    Wale

    "Playboy I always been ready/Skinny but always been heavy/Gave away all my old bitches/Gave away all my Giuseppe's/Keep it 100 with Ross/Keep it 100 with Meek/Keep me a number to call/Had that shit like the 300 movie"

  • "Mathematics"

    Wale

    "Catch me a flight, go abroad/Catch em a flight with your broad/Not even my type but need somethin' that nice so I bet you might Skype with that broad/Sometimes I be trifling y'all/Sometimes I enlighten with thought/I guess I'm a typa swing pimpin' like Ken or Rob Hill when I'm writin' these songs"

  • "Fish n Grits"

    Wale Featuring Travis Scott

    "Never ever gotta write a will/Niggas won't beat me like Emmett Till/Niggas won't bite me like Holyfield/Might run it back on you, I'm in the field" - Travis Scott

  • "Fine Girl"

    Wale Featuring Olamide and Davido

    Take it now, break it down like she want it bad/Put her in the verse, then the bed, then the cab/For the boy baby girl go to hell and back/On my way to Lagos seen the latest shit to hit the net/Oya, got some time for ya/Nigga pick me for beef, we beef, they want suya" - Wale

  • "Fine Girl"

    Wale Featuring Olamide and Davido

    "Give me love and I give you a return/Star Card or Visa, baby which one you want?/Sachs Fifth, with a east side ting/Rodeo, with a west side ting/Bad boy on a worldwide ting/Don't forget, I'm reppin' green white green" - Davido

  • "Heaven on Earth"

    Wale Featuring Chris Brown

    "Fuck the club, girl, I've been ready to go/Got the Uber waitin', we can head to the door/Yeah, Four Seasons or a room at The Ritz/I'ma show you this is as real as it gets/Take me out the game, you might even do it (Yeah, we gon' see, right)/Christian Louboutin, Jimmy Choo and Louis, it's on me" - Wale and Chris Brown

  • "Heaven on Earth"

    Wale Featuring Chris Brown

    "If heaven had a height, she would be that tall/Exceed that far, you see my scars/I see your flaws, I see no problem/I know we're not gods, so we all got 'em/She a introvert, still good in public/I'm not a socialite, so sure she love it" - Wale

  • "My PYT"

    Wale

    "A James Bond nigga with a Saint Laurent fetish/And thank god I never had a baby mother either/Snapchat shortie, flash that for me/Clap back from niggas like that’s not for you/Give her 50 feet fell in love in a week/She penetrating my mind, I penetrate that physique"

  • "Smile"

    Wale Featuring Phil Ade and Zyla Moon

    "I'm smoking purple, the law enforcement be murking brothers/The moon lit and I'm Cottonmouth like Mahershala/Its like you got a curse if your currency low/The world is a dirty fucking experiment, they don't care if its hurting us/Black lives matter, 'cause Black lives target practice/Can't even imagine what would happen with no phone cameras" - Wale

  • "Smile"

    Wale Featuring Phil Ade and Zyla Moon

    "Fuck that, I'ma ruffle some feathers/Mess with the temperature, shuffle the weather/Fuck you to whoever, Keisha or Heather/Beef is whatever/Kill me, you die and I live forever/When you live without fear, it don't get much better" - Phil Ade

  • "Smile"

    Wale Featuring Phil Ade and Zyla Moon

    "I got my family, and I got my squad/And as long as they got me, then I'll be just fine/So I give God the glory cause I have my child/And America don't want me, that's what I realized/That we all need, yeah, a reason to smile" - Wale

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