A recent tweet sent out by rapper Wale calls out his low album sales based on his race. It's also suggested that his choice of words may be referring to several "half white" hip-hop stars who have been doing well on the charts with their recent releases. Was Wale suggesting that Drake and Logic have an easier path to getting record sales these days?
What did Wale say?
In Wale's tweet, he responded to a question about not being pushed by his music label due to the type of songs he puts out. The hip-hop star mentioned that the lack of promotion has hurt him quite a bit, but also suggested it was due to the fact he's a "dark-skinned (not half white) rapper." Wale also adds that he has a direct descent from Africa in the tweet.
While he doesn't mention anyone by name, two "half white" hip-hop stars have been enjoying success in recent years. As Hip Hop Overload suggests in their report, Drake and Logic are the two rappers that immediately come to mind. Drake, real name Aubrey Graham, hails from Canada. Logic, real name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, hails from America. Each of these musical stars has an African-American father and Caucasian mother.
Drake & Logic's sales success
In 2017, Logic released his third studio album with "Everybody." That album charted as high as No. 1 on the United States Billboard 200 album charts and reached as high as No. 4 in Canada, which just so happens to be Drake's birth country. Logic also had his previous albums, "Under Pressure" in 2014 and "The Incredible True Story," reach the top four of the U.S.
Billboard charts. Two of his albums have been certified gold with the most recent going platinum.
As far as Drake goes, most hip-hop fans are already familiar with his success. He's considered the most successful hip-hop star in recent times, with all four of his albums hitting the No. 1 spot on the U.S. Billboard charts. Those albums date back to his debut in 2010, "Thank Me Later," and include his most recent album success, "Views." All of Drake's albums have been certified double platinum or more, showing obvious sales success.
What about Wale, though? The hip-hop star also has two albums that have hit No. 1 on the charts with 2013's "The Gifted" and 2015's "The Album About Nothing." His album "Ambition" released in 2011 went as high as No. 2 on the charts.
In addition, "Ambition" and "Gifted" each were certified gold. However, his most recent album, "Shine," released in April of 2017, only made it as high as No.
16 on the charts. It should be mentioned that the Metacritic site lists a 65 out of 100 as the aggregate review score for "Shine." However, XXL and Exclaim were mentioned as giving it an 80 out of 100.
Is Wale right about his low sales?
Drake not only is known as one of the biggest successes in hip-hop these days, but he seems to have a continually increasing catalog of music. It appears he is involved in new albums and songs every few months, whether it's collaboration with new hip-hop stars, or lending his voice to a song by Rihanna. Clearly, when his songs are more mainstream, that helps with sales too. As Forbes mentioned in an article earlier this year, Drake's doubling up on tracks and streaming music help with his success.
Logic isn't as known for radio-friendly music, but he has seemed to experiment with that a bit recently and has been involved in some collaborative tracks as well. Wale is also not as known for his radio-friendly music but has been dabbling in slower R&B style songs that could get radio play.
There's a big difference between gold and platinum when it comes to sales, with 500,000 necessary for gold, and 1,000,000 needed for platinum. One has to wonder if Wale's sales are due to the issue he mentioned, or if there is the possibility that the other hip-hop stars are putting out more music or creating more appealing music catalogs at the moment.