September 15, 2018

Fabolous "Next" (Vibe, 10/01) + "Ghetto Fabolous" (2001)


"Before the hoopla, Fabolous was John Jackson, a quiet guy living in the Brevoort Houses in Brooklyn. In early 1998, Cheo and Web, friends of DJ Clue's management team, were chilling outside the projects and heard one of Fab's friends bust a rhyme in a cipher. When they found out Fabolous was the writer behind the lyrics, they made Fab kick an impressive verse. They put him in touch with Clue's peoples and got him on the DJ's Monday-night radio show on Hot 97 in New York City. "I usually don't let people on the air without hearing them first," says Clue. "But Fabolous got in there and blazed it like crazy." Later that summer, he signed to Desert Storm and was quickly put to work." - Vibe Magazine, October 2001. Fab's debut album, Ghetto Fabolous, was released on 9/11 of all dates, alongside Jay-Z's The Blueprint. Today, Fabolous is still one of NY's most celebrated lyricists to come up from the underground/mixtape scene and gain mainstream success. I don't feel he's released a classic album YET, but he has a grip of hits in his catalog. Revisit his debut LP below.