"Poor Decisions" is a song by American rapper

Wale Wale or WALE may refer to: Places * Wale, Devon, a hamlet in England * Wale, Tomaszów Mazowiecki County, a village in Poland People * Wale (surname) *Wale (rapper), stage name of American rapper Olubowale Victor Akintimehin Radio and televisi ...

featuring fellow American rappers

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. An influential figure in modern Hip-hop, hip hop music, Rick Ross has become known for his "Wiktionary:booming, booming" vocal perfor ...

and

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, record producer and Music education, music educator. Born and raised in Chicago, he gained mainstream recognition for his gue ...

, released as the lead single from the

Maybach Music Group Maybach Music Group (; abbreviated MMG) is a record label founded by American rapper Rick Ross in 2008. An imprint of gamma. since 2023, the label was previously an imprint of Def Jam Recordings (2009–2011), Warner Records (2011–2012) and ...

(owned by Ross) compilation album, '' Self Made Vol. 3''. The song peaked on the US ''Billboard''

Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 po ...

at number nine.

Background

On June 3, 2013, "Poor Decisions" was officially premiered by ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

''. It was originally thought to be a track from

's third studio album '' The Gifted''. On June 4, 2013,

revealed the first two songs from '' Self Made Vol. 3'', "God Is Great" by

Rockie Fresh Donald Howard Pullen (born April 16, 1991), known professionally as Rockie Fresh, is an American rapper. He was signed to Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group and Atlantic Records. Pullen is known for his alternatively influenced style of hip-hop, and ...

, and "Poor Decisions" by Wale featuring Ross and

. On July 2, 2013 "Poor Decisions" along with, " Levels" by

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

would be sent to

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as the album's first and second singles. Coincidentally all three artists had recently gone through controversy around the release of the song. From Rick Ross rhyming about

date rape Date rape is a form of acquaintance rape and dating violence. The two phrases are often used interchangeably, but date rape specifically refers to a rape in which there has been some sort of romantic or potentially sexual relationship between ...

on "

U.O.E.N.O. "U.O.E.N.O." (verbal shorthand for ''You Don't Even Know'', spoken in regional vernacular dialect) is a song written and performed by American rapper Rocko featuring fellow American rappers Future and Rick Ross. It was released independently on ...

", to Wale who recently got into an argument with a basketball announcer who chose to insult the D.C.-based rapper and Fiasco who had gotten in trouble for publicly criticizing

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

during an inauguration party. However, the song does not mention any of the issues, and is based around "positive vibes". The song's verses were described as "introspective" by

Rap-Up ''Rap-Up'' is a magazine launched in 2001 by founder Devin Lazerine. The publication was originally a website devoted to hip hop, until Lazerine decided to pitch the possibility of a magazine to several publishers. The magazine is focused on the ...

Music video

On June 5, 2013, The DRE Films directed music video for "Poor Decisions" was released, along with the "God Is Great" and "Oil Money Gang" music videos.

Critical reception

Bruce Smith of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

praised Lupe Fiasco's verse on "Poor Decisions" as the biggest highlight of ''Self Made 3'' and that it should be in the running for one of the best verses of 2013. Jesse Cataldo of

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

called the song, a "somber huddle that emerges as Wale takes on one of his signature social messages, which Ross mostly uses as an excuse to shame those less successful at imaginary crime than him.

Chart performance

References

{{Lupe Fiasco singles 2013 singles 2013 songs Wale (rapper) songs Rick Ross songs Lupe Fiasco songs Songs written by Wale (rapper) Songs written by Rick Ross Songs written by Lupe Fiasco Maybach Music Group singles Atlantic Records singles