Fabolous f/ Lloyd - "Real Playa Like" (mp3)
Fabolous was never really that dude, and a while back it looked like his window of opportunity to be anything even close to it was closing, just like it was for so many clever but ultimately boring NY punchline rappers. So it was kind of surprising that getting traded to Def Jam has actually effectively put a new lease on his career. From Nothin' To Somethin' may feature wall-to-wall hitmakers, but so do a lot of albums that flop anyway because the artist on the marquee has lost career momentum. I'm honestly kind of surprised that "Make Me Better" has done as well as it has. I really shitted on the song in the Stylus Jukebox recently, I really think everyone involved phoned it in, and it's probably benefitting from the fact that radio loves Ne-Yo right now but his current solo single is the completely worthless "Do You." I was kind of amazed that Tom, who can always find something to praise in Timbaland's laziest table scraps, could muster up even a half-hearted defense of the song. "So Into You" and "Can't Let You Go" are examples of Fab doing pandering girl songs right, keeping his lyrics as sharp and funny as they are on his street joints; "Make Me Better" is not.
Unfortunately, From Nothin' is real heavy on girl songs, and with one exception, they generally suck. As usual, Polow Da Don, with some ridiculously lush strings, saves the day and comes through with the one dope girl song, "Real Playa Like." I mean, I dissed Real Talk back when it dropped, but it's much more satisfying for autopilot Fab than this album is. Even the straight up rap songs are kinda hit and miss. Senor Pants has been swearing to me up and down lately that "Diamonds" is awesome, but I'm just not hearing it. "Gangsta Don't Play" has some hot lines ("I'm from the era of the shootouts from drug spots/ Happy to be here so I smile in my mug shots/ The David Dinkins years, I even dug Koch/ Before the George Bush drugs watch, bloodclaat!"), "Return Of The Hustle" is yoga flame, but "Brooklyn" is, like most Jay-Z collaborations lately, kind of limp and anticlimactic. I wish Fab and Jay could go at it with the kind of back and forth chemistry that, say, Fab and Cassidy have.
I just hope that this album does well enough that it puts Loso back on the guest verse circuit where he belongs. Lord knows I'd rather hear him on every remix for a while instead of Jim Jones. Fab seems to be putting just a little more character and emphasis in his voice than he used to, like he listened to all the complaints about his blank Ma$e cadence and got self-conscious about it. Fab still has a way of letting subtle rhyme schemes pile off his tongue; he even makes the end-every-line-with-the-same-word shit that I usually can't stand work on "I'm The Man." One of the best parts about From Nothin' To Somethin' is the photos in the CD booklet, which seem more suited to the T.I. Vs. T.I.P. artwork. But instead of a hat-wearing Tip looking at a hatless T.I. in the mirror, the two Loso's in each photo seem to represent the nothin' Fab, if he'd never became a famous rapper, and the somethin' Fab who is a famous rapper. In one picture, poor Fab shines rich Fab's shoes. In another, rich Fab stands at a mixing board, giving instructions to studio technician Fab, wearing glasses and holding a bunch of cables. It's completely hysterical. I wish Fab still put lyric sheets in his liner notes, though. Come to think of it, T.I. Vs. T.I.P. was probably the first major label (non-backpacker) rap album since Real Talk to feature a lyric sheet.
Fabolous was never really that dude, and a while back it looked like his window of opportunity to be anything even close to it was closing, just like it was for so many clever but ultimately boring NY punchline rappers. So it was kind of surprising that getting traded to Def Jam has actually effectively put a new lease on his career. From Nothin' To Somethin' may feature wall-to-wall hitmakers, but so do a lot of albums that flop anyway because the artist on the marquee has lost career momentum. I'm honestly kind of surprised that "Make Me Better" has done as well as it has. I really shitted on the song in the Stylus Jukebox recently, I really think everyone involved phoned it in, and it's probably benefitting from the fact that radio loves Ne-Yo right now but his current solo single is the completely worthless "Do You." I was kind of amazed that Tom, who can always find something to praise in Timbaland's laziest table scraps, could muster up even a half-hearted defense of the song. "So Into You" and "Can't Let You Go" are examples of Fab doing pandering girl songs right, keeping his lyrics as sharp and funny as they are on his street joints; "Make Me Better" is not.
Unfortunately, From Nothin' is real heavy on girl songs, and with one exception, they generally suck. As usual, Polow Da Don, with some ridiculously lush strings, saves the day and comes through with the one dope girl song, "Real Playa Like." I mean, I dissed Real Talk back when it dropped, but it's much more satisfying for autopilot Fab than this album is. Even the straight up rap songs are kinda hit and miss. Senor Pants has been swearing to me up and down lately that "Diamonds" is awesome, but I'm just not hearing it. "Gangsta Don't Play" has some hot lines ("I'm from the era of the shootouts from drug spots/ Happy to be here so I smile in my mug shots/ The David Dinkins years, I even dug Koch/ Before the George Bush drugs watch, bloodclaat!"), "Return Of The Hustle" is yoga flame, but "Brooklyn" is, like most Jay-Z collaborations lately, kind of limp and anticlimactic. I wish Fab and Jay could go at it with the kind of back and forth chemistry that, say, Fab and Cassidy have.
I just hope that this album does well enough that it puts Loso back on the guest verse circuit where he belongs. Lord knows I'd rather hear him on every remix for a while instead of Jim Jones. Fab seems to be putting just a little more character and emphasis in his voice than he used to, like he listened to all the complaints about his blank Ma$e cadence and got self-conscious about it. Fab still has a way of letting subtle rhyme schemes pile off his tongue; he even makes the end-every-line-with-the-same-word shit that I usually can't stand work on "I'm The Man." One of the best parts about From Nothin' To Somethin' is the photos in the CD booklet, which seem more suited to the T.I. Vs. T.I.P. artwork. But instead of a hat-wearing Tip looking at a hatless T.I. in the mirror, the two Loso's in each photo seem to represent the nothin' Fab, if he'd never became a famous rapper, and the somethin' Fab who is a famous rapper. In one picture, poor Fab shines rich Fab's shoes. In another, rich Fab stands at a mixing board, giving instructions to studio technician Fab, wearing glasses and holding a bunch of cables. It's completely hysterical. I wish Fab still put lyric sheets in his liner notes, though. Come to think of it, T.I. Vs. T.I.P. was probably the first major label (non-backpacker) rap album since Real Talk to feature a lyric sheet.
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on Sunday, July 22, 2007 at 11:38 AM.
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Jxsh : 9:16 AM