Wale Shines Light On Hometown, Love, Money & More W/ “Gifted” Cover

“>played a role in constructing a portion of the cover art.

As he gets closer to the release of his third album The Gifted on June 25, Wale unveils the artwork. The Maybach Music rapper illustrates the different aspects that make up his life including his hometown of D.C., money, women, and faith. A stone bust of his face appears on the cover, designed by tattoo artist Mister Cartoon. (Rap-Up)

Wale recently admitted he planned to name the LP “The Curse of the Gifted.”

“The initial title of the album was ‘The Curse of the Gifted.’ But there’s such a connotation, you might hear the album a certain way if I went with that title. That’s the underlying theme of The Gifted is that there’s things that come with it. There really might not be anything non-monetary that comes with it because your sanity, you give it up a little bit when you get famous.” (The Round Up)

A few months ago, the rapper talked about wanting his music to speak for him.

“I’m not even gonna do all that other stuff. I’ma talk with the music. Until my album drop, until June 25, I’ma talk loud with the music,” Wale said, refusing to give any summations of his upcoming LP. “I’ve done everything I could do, I’ve said everything I could say. I’ve kissed the babies, I’ve shook the hands — now let’s let the music talk because I ain’t about to come here and tell y’all exactly how I feel no more. I’ma let it all sing in the music,” he huffed. (MTV)

After weeks of speculation, the Washington, D.C. native announced his new album’s title in mid-March.

This afternoon on Twitter, hometown hip-hop star Wale announced that his third studio album will be titled The Gifted, and it’s expected to drop June 25. No word on whether the title of Wale’s new album was influenced by Nina Simone‘s 1970 song “Young, Gifted, and Black,” but we can speculate. (Washington City Paper)