Read these lyrics carefully:
Let’s talk about how I’m killin everything I touches/ Or how I walked in this game with no crutches/ No Diddy, No Dupri, No Dr. Dre/ No Cash Money from Baby and no Rocs from Jay/ And I’m still here (still here), we still here (still here)…
His hand was forced.
Fabolous had to go the direct route to articulate his career when he penned the above lyrics for the intro of his 2009 album Loso’s Way. It was about the only way to bring attention to a career that has, in this era anyway, defied logic. He wasn’t afforded the luxury of breaking in on Bad Boy, Cash Money, Aftermath or Roc-A-Fella, like so many of rap’s elite from the early 2000s through today can say. Although he did come in with a cosign from DJ Clue, where has Clue been the last several years? Each of those other music moguls he mentioned are still extremely relevant in 2015, except Jermaine Dupri.
Sidebar: No disrespect to Clue or JD, just saying.
Where would Kanye West be without Jay Z? Still getting jerked by Capitol Records? Where would Eminem & 50 Cent be without Dre? Possibly still battle rapping and fake robbing MCs. Where would Wayne be without Birdman (recent events aside)? Each of these entrepreneurs, like legendary coach Paul Brown did for football, are not only responsible for a few highly successful MCs, but an entire tree of successful rap artists.
Sidebar: HHSR— the only place on the internet you’ll find a Paul Brown reference in an article about Fabolous!
Fab had none of that. In fact, he dropped his debut album the same day Jay dropped the legendary record The Blueprint— September 11, 2001. How’s that for an introduction to the hip-hop world? Fab managed to overcome this, and a misspelled stage name that was already a peculiar choice to begin with, to author a career nearly 15 years in the making. To call this a rarity in hip-hop would be quite the understatement; it didn’t hurt that he managed to drop a gem or two along the way.
One of Loso’s greatest accomplishments has been being able to walk the fine line of making music that appeals to men and women equally. There’s a list of records longer than Flatbush Ave. including, “Can’t Let You Go”, “Into You”, “Make Me Better”, “Baby”, “Trade It All”, “Throw It In The Bag”, “You Be Killin’ Em” and even features on “Shawty Is A 10” and “Say Aah” that Fab used to carve out a niche all his own— a rapper who made music for the chicks, but was still respected by the fellas. He was like the 2000s LL Cool J. Or better put, he’s like Drake without the unpleasant aftertaste, if Drake was doing it six years earlier than when he started.
But Fab doesn’t get credit for this.
He doesn’t get credit for balancing that side of his artistry with his ability to produce music good music for the streets. He did this by mastering his mixtape hustle in the second half of his career once the records sales began to wane. Loso began to reinvent himself via the There Is No Competition Gangsta Grillz mixtape series with DJ Drama. The trilogy of tapes, which dropped between 2008 and 2011, featured a heavily mortician-influenced gimmick, although “gimmick” has a pejorative connotation; the birth of “Funeral Fab” was a breath of fresh air in hip-hop.
You can’t teach this type of versatility. This same versatility allowed Loso to evolve once more into a soulful MC, as evidenced by his acclaimed Soul Tape trilogy. The BK kid who came up rhyming over Clue & Just Blaze beats traded in the over-sized velour suits and throwback jerseys for the grown man swagger needed to properly honor the soul samples he used to appeal to his aging constituency. The result: three rock solid efforts, with The Soul Tape and The Soul Tape 3 being arguably the best mixtapes to drop in their respective years (2011 & 2013).
Artists who are fortunate enough to remain connected to their genre of music, particularly a genre that reveres the young and disregards the old (how many rappers are named “Young so-and-so” or “Lil such-and-such”? What about “MC Middle-Aged Man?”) should seek growth and should experiment with new sounds. Successfully reinventing yourself is arguably the hardest thing a rapper can do— Fabolous has reinvented himself on multiple occasions and maintained a loyalty to the streets throughout his transformation. He’s done so most recently under the moniker “Young OG”, an incredibly relatable lane for the 30-something crowd to whom he now caters his music.
Nobody recognizes Loso as an all-time MC. Nobody puts him in their top five. Nobody acknowledges his longevity. Nobody references his ability to reshape his career. Nobody brings up how he never used another rapper, group or label as a crutch. Nobody mentions his consistency. Nobody mentions his beat selection. Nobody mentions his lyricism. Nobody mentions him being a linchpin in East Coast hip-hop in an era where the New York rap scene undoubtedly fell off. Even this website is guilty of not doing a Tale Of The Tape review of his latest album, The Young OG Project, which was fire by the way, unquestionably a fight night winner.
Call it branding or convenient timing, but Loso has also began a trend for releasing new music on Christmas Day, a fresh concept that causes one to wonder why this was never done before. On his latest LP, “Fidel Cashflow” expanded his holiday reach to New Year’s in a very dope way.
Sidebar: Seriously, this is probably my favorite song of the first quarter of 2015.
Fab has collaborated with just about every relevant R&B and East Coast rap artist during his run. Even on his most recent work, he still reps his borough and reaches back to those he used to make magic with, as he spits over a memorable Hov record with assistance from DJ Clue. He also has the respect of rap neophytes, having jumped on Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen Remix” last month. The topical rap champion’s impact on the game is still heavy enough to see him become the face of the new Rocawear line. All of this serves a reflection of his influence on the culture to this very day.
In a recent interview, Loso described how he believes he’s “a king of New York”. Nobody ever mentions him in The King of New York conversation either. But John David Jackson’s career arc, sculpted by creativity, longevity and consistency, is one that few MCs have ever been able to measure up against.
For that, he deserves a massive amount of credit.