Fabolous

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Fabolous
At Sirius Satellite Radio in 2007.
Background information
Birth name	Johnathan Jackson
Born	November 18, 1977 (1977-11-18) (age 30)
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genre(s)	Hip hop
Years active	1998 – present
Label(s)	Desert Storm, Street Family Records, Def Jam
Associated acts	DJ Clue, Lil' Mo, Mike Shorey, Joe Budden, Red Cafe, Young Jeezy
Website	Official website

Johnathan Jackson (born November 18, 1977),^[1] better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 Ghetto Fabolous (2001) 2.2 Street Dreams (2003) 2.3 Real Talk (2004) 2.4 From Nothin' to Somethin' (2007) 2.5 Featured songs 3 Feuds 3.1 Mase 4 Personal life 5 Clothing line 6 Discography 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Early life

Born to an African American mother and a Dominican father, Jackson grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. He began rapping at the age 12. Initially, he was not seriously into rapping. He would only rap to entertain his friends on the streets. When he was younger, Fabolous came into contact with future rap stars, The Notorious B.I.G., Lil Kim, and Jay-Z. After Fab got a little older, he began rapping under the moniker Fabolous Sport. When Memphis Bleek officially signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, Fabolous decided that it was time for him to start rapping seriously. He would call into DJ Clue's radio show in late 1998, he ended up freestyling for Clue, who would immediately sign him to his newly-formed Desert Storm Records. He would be featured on several DJ Clue mixtapes and mixtapes with Roc-A-Fella artists. This would earn Fabolous and Desert Storm a distribution deal with Elektra Records. In 2001, they began to promote Fabolous and his debut album, Ghetto Fabolous, first by placing him on the remix to popular label-mate, Lil Mo's "Superwoman (Remix)."

[edit] Music career

Before receiving mainstream popularity, Fabolous released a single in 1998 titled "If They Want It" under his moniker,"Fabolous Sport". It was released by Def Jam Recordings on the album DJ Clue? The Professional. It is also available on the DJ Kool Kid mixtape, Pound For Pound featuring Fabolous and Jadakiss. In 2000, he released a second single through Elektra Records titled "Gotta Be a Thug", which was put on DJ Clue Presents Backstage Mixtape (soundtrack).^[2] He was nominated for Grammy for his collaboration with Christina Milian for Dip It Low.

[edit] Ghetto Fabolous (2001)

Fabolous was teamed with Nate Dogg to produce his first single "Can't Deny It". The song charted in the Billboard Hot 100, and the subsequent album, Ghetto Fabolous, achieved platinum certification. It reached number four on the Billboard 200 with 143,180 copies sold and had three singles which charted on Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100 charts. The first of those singles is "Can't Deny It" which is produced by Rick Rock and features a chorus by Nate Dogg that alters lyrics from Tupac Shakur's song "Ambitionz Az a Ridah". The other charting singles are "Young'n (Holla Back)", which is produced by The Neptunes and "Trade It All", which features vocals from Jagged Edge and is produced by DJ Clue and DURO.

[edit] Street Dreams (2003)

Fabolous released his second album Street Dreams on March 4, 2003. Powered by a Just Blaze beat and guest vocals from Lil' Mo and Mike Shorey, "Can't Let You Go" reached number one on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Into You" with Tamia also reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Also released on Street Dreams was the club banger "It's My Party" and "Trade It All Pt. 2" which featured Jagged Edge as it did on the Ghetto Fabolous version, as well as Diddy.

[edit] Real Talk (2004)

Fabolous' third album Real Talk was released on November 9, 2004. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 with 179,000 copies and had two charting singles, the lowest in his career. The two charting singles are his street anthem "Breathe" and "Baby," which features Mike Shorey, and shows his more sensitive side that he has showed on many songs in the past. His second single was not promoted until weeks after the album's release. "Tit 4 Tat" was his third single. Pharrell of The Neptunes produced it and did the hook. Fab feels that the single didn't hit it as big as it should have due to poor advertising. Making the music video for his fourth single, "Do the Damn Thing" cost Jackson $30,000. The song featured Young Jeezy, who became known to the public through the video.^[3] The same year, Fabolous was nominated for a Grammy Award for his collaboration on the "Dip It Low" remix by Christina Milian. In early 2006, Fabolous moved to Def Jam and left Atlantic Records who received Musiq in return.^[3]

[edit] From Nothin' to Somethin' (2007)

His fourth studio album, From Nothin' to Somethin, was released in June 2007. Fabolous took the number one spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts for the first time in his career and it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 159,000 copies in its first week.^[4] It is his first album on Def Jam Records. The first single and video, "Diamonds", features Young Jeezy who also appeared on the Real Talk track "Do the Damn Thing". Lil Wayne is featured on the remix. The album was certified Gold in July 2007.

His second single was "Return of the Hustle" which featured Swizz Beatz. Unfortunately, "Return of the Hustle" never became as successful as his third single, "Make Me Better", which features fellow Def Jam artist Ne-Yo. The fourth single was "Baby Don't Go." Jermaine Dupri produced it and T-Pain sings the hook. However, in music video version of the song, Jermaine Dupri sings the hook.

[edit] Featured songs

Fabolous has been featured on several popular R&B artists' songs. He has also collaborated with South Korean singer Se7en in his American debut single "This is My Year" which has been leaked on Myspace and YouTube before the official release.^[5][6] He recently appeared on the remix and video version of singer The-Dream's debut single, "Shawty Is Da Sh*! (10)". He will also appears on the street anthem "New York Minute" by Mims, which also features Class The King.

[edit] Feuds

[edit] Mase

According to Fabolous, Mase approached him in Philadelphia and commented on how he "appreciated" Fab as an artist. The two artists then shook hands and went their separate ways. But some time later, Mase quipped on his song "I Don’t Know Officer": "I don’t know why Loon and Fabby won’t just say I’m their daddy", implying that both Fabolous and rapper Loon stole their laid back style from him. He made a diss track "Murda (We Don’t Believe You)". Fabolous uses 50 Cent's hook from "Life’s on the Line" saying: "Murda, I don’t believe you / Murda, f*ck around and leave you / Murda, we don’t believe you / Murda Murda, your life’s on the line."

In the past, critics have compared Fabolous', Loon's and Mase’s rhyme styles, noting similarities in flow and vocal cadence. But Fabolous has never revealed any animosity towards Mase until then.^[7]

Fabolous even rapped alongside Mase as Fabulous Sport on "That's The Way", a track on DJ Clue's 1998 studio release The Professional. Foxy Brown also appeared on the track.

The "beef" has however apparently been sqaushed. When asked about his next album, Mase stated that on his next release, there would be a track entitled "We Run It", which will also feature LL Cool J. Mase then apologized for his past comments in songs like "I Don't Know Officer".^[7]

[edit] Personal life

Fabolous was raised in the UNION neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.^[8] In January and March 2003, Fabolous was arrested for possessing an unlicensed gun in his car. His bodyguard later showed proof of ownership for the gun.^[9][10]

In an interview with XXL, Fabolous revealed that he has been in a long-term relationship that began in 2005.^[3]

Fabolous was shot in his right leg on the morning of October 17, 2006 in Manhattan.^[11] The police saw the rapper and three other men accompanying him rushing through a red light and found unlicensed, loaded guns in their car leading to their arrest. After they found the weapons, Fabolous was treated at a local hospital.

New York Police linked Fabolous to a crew of robbers who targeted champion boxer Zab Judah twice. According to police reports, the Street Fam Crew is made up of 20 members, all former drug dealers from Fabolous' Brooklyn neighborhood. In 2006, three men tried to rob Judah as he stood next to his yellow Lamborghini on West 27th Street at 10th Avenue in New York City. The three rolled up in a minivan at about 5 AM, and hopped out. One pulled a black handgun on Judah and told him to put his jewelry on the hood of his car. Judah ran instead. The muggers followed in their van, but crashed into a tree a block away. All three scattered, but one was captured by a Homeland Security agent on his way to work, and another was grabbed by a nearby cab driver. "A bunch of idiots that didn't have no control over what they were doing; they messed with the wrong guy," said Judah.^[12]

Fabolous came forward to deny reports that he was involved. More lately, in the evening of November 22, 2007, a childhood friend—Shamel McKinney—was stabbed to death inside of a New York nightclub.^[13]

Fabolous denied Street Family crew's connection to any reported robberies. Police say that McKinney may have been stabbed after trying to steal jewelry off the neck of another clubgoer, Anthony Taylor (who has since the incident been arrested and has to face second-degree murder charges). The rapper further explained that despite reports, McKinney is not the type of person he has been made out to be, referring to the allegations that McKinney is part of a robbery crew connected to the rapper. Fabolous stated, "On Thanksgiving, I think I came out of the house one time - to go get eggnog. And there wasn't any eggnog at Club Duvet."^[14]

[edit] Clothing line

Fabolous stated in 2005 that he wanted to release his own clothing line in the coming years. Without publicizing detail, he went into a search for designers and manufacturers for his line to accomplish the task. After finding qualified staffing Fabolous announced the name for his line is Rich Yung Society Clothing.^[15]

[edit] Discography

Main article: Fabolous discography

• 2001: Ghetto Fabolous
• 2003: Street Dreams
• 2004: Real Talk
• 2007: From Nothin' to Somethin'

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Def Jam Site
• Fabolous at MySpace
• Musicsnippet Profile
• BlackPlanet
• Fabolous at Power 105.1
• Rich Yung Society Clothing site

v • d • e Fabolous
Albums	Ghetto Fabolous · Street Dreams · Real Talk · From Nothin' to Somethin'
Singles	"Can't Deny It" · "Young'n (Holla Back)" · "This Is My Party" · "Can't Let You Go" · "Into You" · "Make U Mine" · "Breathe" · "Tit 4 Tat" · "Baby" · "Diamonds" · "Make Me Better" · "Baby Don't Go"
Related articles	Discography

Persondata
NAME	Jackson, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Fabolous, Loso
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American rapper
DATE OF BIRTH	November 18, 1977
PLACE OF BIRTH	New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH