Photo: Ann Summa (Getty Images)
In case you don’t know, Seinfeld is one of the most popular and influential TV shows in the history. Starting in 1989, the show lasted for nine seasons and reinvented the whole sitcom genre. The show would even refer to itself as being about nothing at all since most of the themes referred to everyday life in New York. Not only has the show inspired other sitcoms, it also inspired musicians like the young rapper Wale, who created a mixtape inspired by the show. This intrigued the creator of the show, Jerry Seinfeld and quickly the Wale-Seinfeld musical album called “The Album About Nothing” came to life.
Seinfeld Characters
Seinfeld is one of those shows that is fairly difficult to explain to someone who’s never watched it. Basically, it follows a young comedian called Jerry and his three friends, George, Elaine, and Kramer. George is Jerry’s longtime best friend. He is often petty, envious and dishonest with people around him. Despite that, he remains a loyal friend to Jerry. Besides him, there is also Kramer, a slightly psychotic but overall benevolent neighbor, and Elaine, Jerry’s ex-girlfriend whose brilliance and honesty don’t really go hand-in-hand.
The Show’s Concept
While most people agree that Seinfeld as a show doesn’t have one, unique subject, the show’s creators stated in an interview that the point of it was to show how a comedian’s mind works. Namely, most of comedy sketches and routines come from real-life experiences, which is evident in Seinfeld. A lot of the show’s plotlines were based on real events, slightly exaggerated for comedic purposes. Basically, Seinfeld aims to show that you can find comedy in pretty much everything as long as you keep an open mind. Considering how the show went on for nine full seasons without losing on its quality, you can’t say they’re wrong.
Wale-Seinfeld Album
So where does the rapper Wale come in? Back in 2008, he released a mixtape called “A Mixtape About Nothing” that was based on the show’s episodes. Even the title of the mixtape is a nod to the fact that Seinfeld was “A Show About Nothing.” The songs on the mixtape sample the lines from the show and include various references. The actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who plays Elaine, also appeared on the mixtape. This eventually drew the attention of Jerry Seinfeld who met up with Wale and, together, they decided to make a project where Seinfeld would be heavily involved. In 2015, “The Album About Nothing” came out and it featured a number of quotes from the show, as well as the narration of Jerry Seinfeld himself. According to Wale, it is his most personal album so far.
The Songs
“The Album About Nothing” has 14 songs and includes a couple of notable guest performers like Usher, Jeremih, SZA, and J. Cole. All of the Wale songs are named like the Seinfeld episodes with “the” in front of the title. The album begins with “The Intro About Nothing,” and continues with “The Helium Balloon,” and “The White Shoes.” After that comes the first guest performer on the album, J. Cole, who sings on “The Pessimist.” The album continues strongly with “The Middle Finger,” “The One Time in Huston,” “The Girls on Drugs,” and “The God Smile.” The ninth track is “The Need to Know,” and it features a young and talented New Jersey singer SZA. Then there’s “The Success,” “The Glass Egg,” and “The Bloom (AG3).” The penultimate single “The Matrimony” features Usher on vocal duty, while the last one “The Body” features Jeremih.
Based on Wale’s Twitter account as well as Jerry Seinfeld’s, the two have become good friends, so we might expect some more projects in the future. We have yet to see.
