Fabolous
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
His breakthrough single, Cant Deny It -- a Rick Rock production featuring a 2Pac sample and a Nate Dogg feature, as well as a catchy hook -- preceded his debut album, Ghetto Fabolous (2001), and generated quite a bit of buzz. The album also featured production work by the Neptunes, but only managed one other single, Youngn, which failed to match the success of Cant Deny It. However, when Fabolous returned in 2003 with his sophomore album, Street Dreams, he capitalized on his initial renown, racking up three major hits: Trade It All, Cant Let You Go, and Into You -- the latter two breaking into the Top Five of ~Billboards Hot 100. Later that year, More Street Dreams, Pt. 2: The Mixtape hit stores just in time for the holiday season. Comprised of various street-level recordings originally released on mixtapes, this compilation didnt spawn any hits, but it did reaffirm Fabolous hip-hop credentials in the wake of his string of pop-crossover singles. The following year brought with it another album, Real Talk, which didnt offer any major pop-crossover hits (Baby was a minor one) yet did boast a monster Just Blaze production, Breathe, which further shored up Fabolous hip-hop credentials.
The young rapper took most of 2005 and 2006 off, and shortly before the scheduled release of his next album, in late 2006, he made headlines when he was shot in the leg and subsequently charged with weapons possession (police found two guns in the car that transported him to the hospital). His record label, Def Jam, deemed this good publicity and moved to rush-release his upcoming album, From Nothing to Something.
