For an artist with two platinum and two gold albums to his name, and a technically ten year-long resume as a professional emcee, you would think Brooklyns own Fabolous would command more respect in the rap game.
Unfortunately or fortunately, wherever you stand on F-A-B-O, the man born John Jackson tends to be one of the most criticized spitters that enhabit the rotten apple even while remaing one of the citys most consistently successful. The line on Mr. Loso is that hes raw on mixtapes [click to listen], but saccharine sweet on his own albums. And while his latest LP, From Nothin To Somethin [click to read], netted him another gold plaque for his collection, the CDs two female-friendly singles have led many a Fab fan to wonder if the man behind certified hood classics the likes of Breathe and Return Of The Hustle will ever actually let his Baby go in favor of feeding the streets.
The answer to that question will be answered in the fourth quarter of this year when Fabolous unleashes his most daring effort to date, a film-inspired concept album. Fab took time out of his busy tour schedule recently to speak to HipHopDX.com about said album. He also addressed all of the stories that have surfaced over the past year-and-a-half regarding his reportedly celebrity-robbing crew. And on a slightly lighter note, Fab explained why hes not ashamed of recording more commercial fare (even with former pop princess Britney Spears), shared his thoughts on M.O.P.s versatility, and maybe most notably in our conversation highlighted how hes not biting Jay-Zs movie motivated release, but in fact how Hova might have actually bit him.
HipHopDX: Lets start by talking about your upcoming album, can you finally reveal to our readers which movie it is that your basing the albums concept around?
Fabolous: We are not releasing the movie [name] yet because [I havent] actually started the whole recording process. All I can state is that we are kinda theming [the album] after a movie that I felt had greatrelatable life scenarios.
So what I wanted to do was not take that character and become the character of that movie, but take some of the scenarios that Im familiar with and I think will be familiar to other people also and make some songs [inspired from them].
DX: I know you had the Losos Way mixtape [and so] theres some rumors out there that the movies Carlitos Way.
F: Yeah, we did that [already] with the tape.
DX: Have you chopped it up with the movie studio [to] make sure youre?
F: No, not really. I guess that comes a little later, but we havent [yet], no. Because Im not really going into character. Im not even sure if Im even gonna use like excerpts or anything from the movie, I just wanna take some of the scenarios of it [to inspire songs]. And I think people will be able to connect certain scenarios with lyrically how I attach [the songs]. I dont know Like, I wasnt really trying to actually make a soundtrack, ya know what I mean?
DX: Yeah, you know youre already catching flack for looking like youre jacking Jay-Zs American Gangster concept [though].
F: One of the first interviews I did [talking about this album concept] I used that [comparison]. Of course this is one thing media loves to do, they love to make it look some kind of controversial way. What I said about the Jay-Z thing was Jay-Z had just done that with American Gangster. And like you just said, I did [a concept record based off a movie] with Losos Way for the mixtape, which was before American Gangster. But nobody [cites that]. Of course that wouldnt be stated [in the media].
But anyway, what I was saying [is] that what Jay did is kinda he went more into [the] character of his [chosen movie]. I used the Jay reference as saying that I wouldnt be in as much character as Jay [was]. Jay may have looked at himself in character and said, "I come from maybe the same cloth [as Frank Lucas]." And even certain lines in the songs he referenced himself to Meyer Lansky and Frank Lucas and saying hes like Frank Lucas - except for the snitching part, and stuff like that. So he refers to himself in the same character. With me, Im not doing that.
DX: And you said you just started working [on the album], are you planning on doing something similar to what he did in terms of the production, like having producers look at the movie to inspire the sounds?
F: I kinda wanted to do that but the time that movie [is set in] is I just want them to see what they get from the movie and make that the inspiration for the music, but not relate the music [to the period the movie is set in]. Like how Jay made all the sounds on that album from the sound of that time, or the music is more mellow. The tone of the music is symbolic to the movie. Im not trying to really do that. I told produces to check the movie out because of what they might get, a scenario they may figure they can give a beat [toMe and Jay] really [are] just attacking [the concept] from two different ways. Like, Jay to me was attacking a movie from that way and Im trying to do it more in the sense of the plot and the story and the scenarios in the movie, not so much of the characters and the timing and the setting. The movie could take place in the 80s, [but] Im not gonna make the beats sound like theyre from the 80s.
DX: Can you name which producers you got checking out the movie, which ones are gonna be assigned this task?
F: Were very pre in the production stage right now. Ive talked with some of my in-house guys about it. Ive had a talk with Jermaine Dupri about it. I had a talk with DJ Toomp about it. Just Blaze A few guys that we just talked [to]. Nothings been sketched out really on paper or anything yet.
So nobody has came to me [yet] with any tracks or anything. I do have a record done that I did that I think is fitting for the album, but that was not done by a producer who was already in that same mode. The record just happened to be a great record for the theme [of the album].
DX: Can you give us any details on that record?
F: It doesnt really have a title [yet]. It was actually a record that was done for my last album, From Nothin To Somethin, but we didnt use it. This cut could go on a themed album, it could go on a not themed album, its just a well cut record. And its female-friendly [but] not at the same time. Its hard to describe cause its really a skeleton of the record. But its done lyrically. We just gotta add some things to it.
So really, this conversation, everything is really premature, nothing is really solid except for that we are going for that theme. I didnt wanna let the movie [title] out based on how premature the project is right now. I didnt wanna give anybody else ideas who are maybe in recording now. I just didnt wanna spoil it by giving too much away.
But I think [divulging the album plans] gives a little challenge to the producers. It gives [them] a chance to think what movie they think it is. Its like how you shouted out Losos Way from Carlitos Way, it gives [potential album producers] a challenge to see if they really know which movie [it is]. They may say, "Alright, let me watch the movie and see what I get." Cause one thing thats great about a movie is 10 different people can watch a movie and not all 10 people are gonna get the same thing from watching it. So thats why I thought it was great that the producers check it out and really get they own feel of the [movie] too.
DX: One last question about the album, American Gangster was sort of a return to the streets for Jay-Z if you will, do you know if your movie inspired release is gonna be more Breathe or Make Me Better?
F: I mean you could always expect a Make Me Better kind of feel in some of the music that I do, or expect at least a single of that kind of caliber. But what I try to do with my music too is always stay versatile [to] where you really dont know what kind of joint Im gonna come with. Im sure even when I came with Breathe just coming off of the two popular radio-friendly joints I had I dont think people were even expecting that to come. And then now to come with Make Me Better, when I came with that it was at a point where nobody had those kind of records too. And I think that kind of record sonically cut through everything that was playing [at the time] because of how heavily influenced radio and video is with south music and thats not the kind of joints that [southerners] actually make either.
So I try to stay versatile. I dont really wanna give people a sound that they can guarantee me on. I think people know that I can make radio-friendly records. People who get the mixtapes, they know a little bit more of the lyrical talent.
But like, albums to me are different from actually making mixtapes. When I make mixtapes Im pretty much wide open and free. And sometimes you can have that same freedom with making an album, but albums are a little bit more formatted, youre trying to attack a different kind of listener and a different kind of buyer sometimes. And you really have to do what works for you. Im not ashamed of doing any kind of radio records because at the end of the day, thats what works for me when I put out albums. Thats what makes people interested [in] the project as far as on a commercial mainstream [level]. On another level, when Im checking for the streets or when Im checking for other people who are not so following of mainstream music, thats when I put out mixtapes. Thats when I do remixes with other people. But really, album-wise, I try to keep it versatile. I dont really want people to bank me on, "Okay, is it gonna be 'Make Me Better' or is it gonna be 'Breathe'?" Just by you even being able to ask me that question, its a great thing for me because that means you dont really know what Ima come with