For Wale, it’s about time to let the light SHINE.

As the upcoming fifth album in his catalog, Mr. Folarin is planning a different approach on SHINE. “It’s just music,” he told REVOLT during his photoshoot for Sean John’s fall/holiday 2016 ‘Dream Big’ campaign. “It ain’t necessarily a book this time.” The D.C. native is exploring newer terrain within this new creative process, which he describes as much more musically-driven than his previous efforts. “It’s more so a bunch of emotions that you gonna feel,” he described. “I’m just trying to paint pictures. It ain’t too overly thought of this time, it’s still good music.”

While he’s shown signs of this melodic-focused approach on past thumpers like “White Linen” and “Bad,” Wale’s latest single, “My PYT,” shows his vision to take it step further.

Interpolating elements and grooves from timeless material from Marvin Gaye (“Sexual Healing”) and Michael Jackson (“PYT”), the record features Wale maxing in his pocket, doing everything from rapping to crooning. This is a theme that fans should expect on SHINE. “Obviously I’m deeply rooted in hip-hop so you got niggas like Jay, Black Thought, Lil Wayne, Rozay, Lupe as inspiration,” he offers. “But then I mix it with a couple Jodeci melodies, a couple MJ melodies that I can hit.” As of this writing, “My PYT” is not only Wale’s 11th Billboard Hot 100 entry, but it’s also his seventh Top 20 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Suffice to say, with a mission set to creating vibes, Wale’s formula is clearly working.

“I just mixed everything that I like because that’s what makes me unique,” he said. “Because I listen to everything from Hall & Oates to Ma$e. I listen to all of that and recently I just let it all go in the studio and just do whatever that feels right.”

Wale’s SHINE is expected to arrive this fall. His single “My PYT” is available now on iTunes, and the recently released SoundCloud triple suplex Today… i Got Time! can be heard below.