Ambition
Studio album by Wale
Released	November 1, 2011 (2011-11-01)
Recorded	2010 – September 28, 2011
Genre	Hip hop
Length	60:10
Label	Maybach Music, Warner Bros.
Producer	Chris Barz, Cloudeater, Deputy, Diplo, DJ Toomp, Jerrin Howard, Kore, Lex Luger, Mark Henry, Tha Bizness, T-Minus, Tone P
Wale chronology
Attention Deficit (2009) Ambition (2011) The Gifted (2013)
Singles from Ambition
"Lotus Flower Bomb" Released: October 11, 2011 (2011-10-11) "Sabotage" Released: January 31, 2012 (2012-01-31)[1]

Ambition is the second studio album by American hip hop artist Wale. It was released on November 1, 2011 on Maybach Music Group and Warner Bros. Records.^[2][3][4][5]

Background [edit]

On July 20, 2011 Wale began releasing video blogs titled "#Nodaysoff Vlog: Wale – The Making of 'Ambition'" through the Maybach Music Group Channel.^[6] On August 22, 2011 in an interview with MTV Wale revealed he and Kid Cudi reconciled and were working on a song for the album, tentatively titled "Focused".^[7] This will be the first time Wale and Kid Cudi have collaborated musically since the release of "Is There Any Love?" in 2008. The two were previously not working together, because of a small falling-out that they had in September 2010. Guests for the album are Rick Ross, Lloyd, Ne-Yo, Big Sean, Miguel, Meek Mill, Kid Cudi, and Jeremih. On September 28, 2011, through his Twitter feed, Wale announced he officially completed the album.^[8]

Promotion [edit]

On August 17, 2011 Wale released a mixtape titled The Eleven One Eleven Theory, in reference to Ambition's release date. The mixtape features production from DJ Toomp, Sonny Digital, and Tone P, and features songs such as "Bait", "Chain Music" and the single "That Way".^[9] In 2011, to promote Ambition, Wale went on the Ambition Tour.^[10] It started in Minneapolis, Minnesota and ended in Atlanta, Georgia. The tour featured Black Cobain from The Board Administration as the opening act.

Singles [edit]

The first promotional single, "Chain Music" was released to digital retailers on September 6, 2011. The second promotional single, "Bait" released to digital retailers on September 6, 2011.^[11] The lead single, "Lotus Flower Bomb" feauting Miguel was released to digital retailers on October 11, 2011. The third promotional single, "Focused" featuring Kid Cudi was released to digital retailers on October 19, 2011. "Sabotage" featuring singer Lloyd will be released to US urban radio as the album's second single on January 31, 2012. The music video for "Slight Work" featuring Big Sean was released on February 19, 2012. The video to "Ambition" featuring Meek Mill and Rick Ross was released on March 13, 2012^[12]

Reception [edit]

Commercial performance [edit]

The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, with 164,000 copies sold in its first-week. As of August 2012 Ambition has sold 500,000 copies in the United States.^[13]

Critical response [edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(69/100)[14]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllHipHop	(7/10)[15]
Allmusic	[16]
BBC	negative[17]
Billboard	favorable[18]
HipHopDX	[19]
Paste Magazine	(5.6/10)[20]
Pitchfork Media	(6.7/10)[21]
PopMatters	(5/10)[22]
Rolling Stone	[23]
Slant Magazine	[24]
XXL	(XL)[25]

Ambition received generally favorable reviews from music critics.^[14] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 15 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable review".^[14] David Jeffries, a writer at Allmusic, gave Ambition four out of five stars.^[16]

Track listing [edit]

Notes

• The Source Magazine confirmed the official tracklisting.^[27]
• The track "That Way" is also a track in Maybach Music Group's album Self Made Vol. 1.

Sample credits

• "That Way" contains:
  • excerpts and samples of "Give Me Your Love", written and as performed by Curtis Mayfield.
  • interpolations and samples of "I'm the Only Woman", written by LaTonya Blige-DaCosta, Curtis Mayfield, Sean Combs, Chucky Thompson, Andre Harrell and Faith Evans, as performed by Mary J. Blige.

Charts [edit]

References [edit]