Wale has had critics on the waiting line for almost a year now, after a feature spot on The Roots' Rising Down last year and his own Seinfeld-themed A Mixtape About Nothing rose the anticipatory hype to near-insurmountable levels.

A consistently excellent lyricist with a penchant for pop-culture punchlines, Wale makes his bid for mainstream appeal on Attention Deficit by way of spreading himself across as many sounds as possible. There are no less than ten different producers on the album, which keeps listeners on their toes but ultimately causes the album to suffer from a personality crisis, highlighting the missteps as well as the finer points on what could be the most promising debut Hip-Hop album we've seen in years.

Opener "Triumph" was produced by David Sitek of TV On The Radio, who lent his knob skills to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ excellent It’s Blitz album, as well as Scarlett Johansson’s Tom Waits covers album (for whatever that's worth). A clean, soulful horn section underscores a confidently smooth delivery that hearkens back to Kanye when he was still hungry, before the ego fully lifted off into the ridiculous stratosphere. Likewise, braggart's tale "Tv In The Radio" featuring K'Naan is a skittering canter through beats in sixteenths and horn-blast build-ups. It's a cosmetic party track that builds to a sheen, but ultimately doesn't deliver a solid payoff. 

The guests on board don't slouch on the process, with Pharrell delivering some much-needed melody to "Let It Loose," J. Cole giving Wale a run for his limelight on "Beautiful Bliss" and Lady GaGa lending her best M.I.A. impression (and a damned good one at that) to "Chillin," a dirty, magnetic fuzz-funk party built around synth keys and a welcome interpretation of Steam's classic "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye". "Pretty Girls," by contrast, features an expectedly pimp-flash verse from imminent jailbird Gucci Mane, but it arrives as uninspired.

The Mark Ronson-produced "Mirrors" features Ronson’s characteristic groove, but Wale’s faux stutters get a bit annoying when placed next to Bun B's butter flow. It's Ronson who lifts "90210" to album-highlight heights, with high-end keys leading Wale through a dangerously Kanye-esque walk through the desperate, shimmering hopelessness of a fame-chaser. Wale openly admitted that Ronson encouraged him to back off from specifically casting Paris Hilton as the star of the track, a decision that moved the song from beef gimmick to a memorably pretty anecdotal stroll.

Wale's multi-faceted personality is explored to impressive depths on Attention Deficit, whether striking out for mainstream appeal through club-bumpers ("Pretty Girls"), sleek, self-involved pop-culture sermons ("Contemplate") or timelessly melodic gems ("Prescription"). The sentiment swan-dives are done with grace and don't rely on the likes of Akon crooning for panty cream for the payoff; Wale's got it handled on his own, with a collection comprised a little bit of the usual suspects (Neptunes, Ronson) and an oddball assortment of great showings (GaGa, Bun B). 

As first albums go, Attention Deficit is a powerfully promising offering from an MC who's not afraid to give the song what it wants, instead of working the song to fit a collective desire. It's the mark of an artist, and he's got our attention.