Triumph
by Wale

Album: Attention Deficit (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is the opening track from Attention Deficit, American rapper Wale's debut album.
  • This track is a collaboration with Dave Sitek, it being the TV on the Radio musician's first foray into hip-hop production. Sitek also helmed the punning track "TV In The Radio" on the album. Wale told MTV News about the unusual pairing between himself and the Brooklyn rock/ soul/ space-funker. "It feels like, if Fela Kuti was around and met Just Blaze and they had a conversation and woke up at 4 a.m., called each other simultaneously and said, 'Let's go to the studio, I have an idea.' One [song] specifically - called 'Triumph' - that's how it sounds. It's about breaking the barriers of music. TV on the Radio is... if you know, you know," he continued. "It ain't like they're highly publicized, Grammy-winning, 10 million-sold rock stars... but this is some freaky, freaked-out music. And I wanted to be one of the first hip-hop acts to really go in-depth and use them."
  • The track name checks Kanye West with the line: "I asked Mr. West for some help/ But I realized us new ni--as gotta do for ourselves."

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