Brooklyn, NY - Everybody has a story. In the rap game, every artist strives to tell you theirs. It has been the moral stance of the founding fathers of hip-hop since 1979, when the Herculoids (DJ Kool Herc, Coke La Rock, and Clark Kent) and Afrika Bambaataa’s Universal Zulu Nation were the first to introduce themselves to the audience. They in turn were followed by artists like Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, and Eric B & Rakim; these are all rappers that to this day not only influence artists, but help shape thought, rhyme and delivery.

Since 1998, John “Fabolous” Jackson has been telling us his own life saga through his music.

Discovered by world-renowned DJ Clue in 1998, Fab’s first released track was “If They Want It” on DJ Clue’s The Professional, which came out on Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam in the same year he was discovered. Since then he has released four albums, including his latest offering From Nothing to Something, released in June 2007. That project gave Fab the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums and #2 on the Billboard 200. Not bad for an album released after a 3-year hiatus from the scene.

Fabolous dropped his first album Ghetto Fabolous in 2001, which achieved platinum certification and reached # 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2003 he released his second effort Street Dreams, which also went platinum, solidifying Fabolous’ career in hip-hop stardom and awarding his sharp punchlines and effortless storytelling abilities.

The albums helped the young artist pave his own lane in an industry soon to become oversaturated with artists and executives only striving to put out hit records, instead of complete and solid albums. The following year, Fabolous released his third album Real Talk, which only managed to go gold, but was responsible for “Breathe”; one of Fab’s most lyrically-acclaimed tracks of his career. Produced by Just Blaze, the sound features heavy piano samples from Supertramp’s progressive rock band, Crime of the Century. The record showed Fab’s ability to efficiently create a song laced with witty rhymes and clever wordplay, rather than just a hot delivery on a killer beat.

After a life changing incident in October of 2006, Fabolous came back in 2007 with his fourth recording, From Nothing to Something. The album’s third single “Make Me Better” (featuring Ne-Yo) was one of the biggest hits of 2007, and if you were anywhere in the New York area in the summer of last year – hell if you were anywhere in North America in the summer of 2007 – you probably heard the song at least five times (minimum) a day on your local radio station. Fabolous took the HipHopCanada hot seat in late 2007 and talked to us about his last album, his role in the game and of course, his current projects.

HipHopCanada: Okay, so let’s talk a little about your last album From Nothing to Something. You have an extensive list of features on it (Jay-Z, Joe Budden, Red Café, Pusha T, T-Pain, Swizz Beats, Akon, Rihanna Lloyd, Young Jeezy). Why did you choose to do so many collaborations and who complimented your style better?
That’s what I used all the features for, to compliment my – not my style – but my songs a little bit better. If you notice most of them are on the hooks; there aren’t too many people rapping besides Jay-Z, Young Jeezy and maybe Pusha T. The crew joint is just my crew but otherwise it was more about getting R&B artists on the hook. I wasn’t going to sing on them so I just went and got the best people qualified to sing on them. That’s what ended up happening. We did a lot more records for the album, and there were records that didn’t have anybody on the hook but we ended up using the ones that did have somebody on the hook.

HipHopCanada: Do you see a personal and/or musical growth with this album?
Definitely see a musical growth. Personally, I grew because I was away for two years. On the musical side I knew I was ready to make real songs rather than just rap over beats. I think I came a long way doing that. As time progresses you can write more and you know what to do to make things sound a little better.

HipHopCanada: Why did it take you so long to put the album out?
I went through a label change and that took a little bit of time, and also I took some time to work on the album. After being away that long I knew people would be interested in what I was coming with so I just wanted to make sure all the music was right before I put it out.

HipHopCanada: You left Atlantic records and are now under Def Jam. What was the situation that made you leave, and why Def Jam?
Situation where I left Atlantic was that – once you’re partners in business you have to understand that you are partners and I wasn’t having that understanding over there and certain things weren’t being brought to the table. It’s hard for me to do business with somebody that’s either not trustworthy or not following through with what they’re supposed to be doing. I started researching where I could go, maybe during, or after I shot the “Baby” video, which was my second single on that project. From there I could tell that “Baby” wasn’t really worked the way it was supposed to be worked. We had also shot two other videos and they ended up not doing anything with those. I also shot a video out of my pocket that I asked them just to work and put out there. It was a joint that I had with Jeezy and they just let it go. They didn’t even get it to local video stations. That’s when I felt I couldn’t really be in a partnership with them anymore and that’s when I started looking at other places. One of my boys, who was at Def Jam as an A&R, started putting that bug in my ear and people over there took an interest in me and we just made it happen.

HipHopCanada: I read in an interview that after being shot last year you decided to sit back and lay low. You said you had never been shot before. How did that change your perspective on things?
It just changed my perspective as far as realizing your situation around you and moving a little tighter with people that you’re around. With a situation like that, even if it’s not intended for you, it can happen. You can’t go around being scared, thinking you can’t go out of the house because there’s a possibility you can get shot, but you also have to live wisely and choose wisely the people that are around you and make good decisions. All those types of things are things that can lead to you getting shot.

HipHopCanada: Is there anything you do different now in terms of habits or whatever?
Not like a routine or anything… just be aware of everything and what you do and even the people that you keep company with. Some people do what they do and what they do can affect you, so you just have to be more cautious.

HipHopCanada: On your MySpace page you have posted an e-mail address people can get at you through to submit beats. How do you pick the beats you want and what classifies something as a “Fab beat”?
I mean there is really no such thing as a “Fab beat” – it’s just whatever is hot. The album is very diverse. I try to make versatile music and really go up and down towards catching the attention of different people. A song like “Diamonds” may not catch the attention of somebody that’s more into a song like “What Should I Do".

HipHopCanada: Is there a particular way you pick the beats people submit to you or just whatever catches your ear?
Whatever catches my ear or something that pulls something out of me or pulls a hook out of me real quick. I never really look for a particular style of beat because sometimes when you do that you’re blocking your ears and you’re not taking everything for what it’s worth.

HipHopCanada: You have a clothing line: Young Rich Society, which meshes the style of Japanese street wear and urban boutiques. What’s the idea behind the clothing line and how involved in the actual process are you directly?
I’m actually a partner in it. What we were doing before was making t-shirts and hats and just a couple of sweaters to build a little buzz. We’ve been doing that for two years and now it’s just about getting the actual stuff into retail. I don’t play a role as far as designing it or anything. I’m more just endorsing it and getting other people to wear it. I cross-promote it with what I’m doing and at the same time use the promotion that the line needs.

HipHopCanada: Is there one particular type of customer that it’s tailored to?
I’ve seen all different kind of customers wear it. I’ve been on MySpace and I’ve seen everyone from Robbie Cunningham, to a Japanese kid or some black kid from the hood to a Spanish kid from the suburbs. I’ve seen people from all walks and spectrums. It doesn’t cater to one ethnic group or style.

HipHopCanada: With all these new artists coming out all over the U.S., where do you place yourself?
I’m not a brand new artist; I’m not a rookie. I’m four albums in so I definitely wouldn’t place myself in that lane. I think a lot of people still look at me as a young artist though, and that’s good because it still gives me room to grow. I like the fact that a lot of people don’t realize that I’ve done four albums until they sit down and really think about it so that’s a good thing too. I like being fresh and being relevant to the game when I come out because when you start getting old people start casting you away, and I think that’s what’s happening with Jay now. I think Jay is lyrically one of the best rappers in the game right now but people are just casting him away as far as him being old to the game. It’s like, Jay-Z’s “been there, done that” kind of thing. So I’m glad to be in the position that I’m in and be kind of fresh, but still have been around for a little bit.

HipHopCanada: You came up in the game through mixtapes. Do you feel as if the music you deliver should be grittier or more street?
No because mixtapes are different from making an album. The audience that listens to mixtapes is not the kind of audience that goes in the store to buy an album. When I make an album, it’s something for the masses, and not just a country, but the world. Mixtapes are something I do when I’m having fun and it’s kind of for that underground audience that really digs street material. If you listen to 50 Cent—does 50 Cent make the same music on his albums that he does on the mixtapes? No he doesn’t. Everybody that moved from that mixtape circuit and became successful doesn’t make mixtape music for their album. That’s where I’m at. Even the style of rap that I rap is different. When I first came out, I was more of a punchline rapper, whereas when you make a song it’s about making a complete song rather than just having a punch line every two, three bars. And that’s what the transformation with me was: becoming a complete artist, rather than a mixtape rapper who can rap. You look at a lot of artists like Common and I always think Common is a dope rapper, but I don’t always think Common has made the best music for the masses… and that’s why I think now that he’s hooked up with artists like Kanye and other people, that he’s starting to make more music for the masses. He’s still rapping in his own style, but he’s making music that more people can enjoy.

HipHopCanada: With rap sales steadily declining, and more and more people turning to things like iPods and mp3’s and buying albums off the net, what do you think is the best way to market yourself?
You still have to market to radio and television, but the internet is a huge thing labels are using now. I think it’s going to be the biggest thing because, like you said, people are actually buying albums off the net so you have to maybe pay more attention to interviews on the websites rather than on the radio or BET, MTV or whatever.

HipHopCanada: Do you have a problem with people downloading your music for free on the internet?
I have a problem with someone downloading a whole album [for free]. Anybody that’s making music to sell will have a problem with that. But I don’t have a problem with you downloading new material that I put out or mixtape material. An album is different. There used to be a time when albums were frequent; you knew even the dates the album was coming out. Now people are more into online and albums just come and you really build your sales on anticipation. A lot of artists don’t have the strength to sell albums week after week after week because of the change of the times… a change where it’s not that strong of a presence after you’ve come out. They give you the music in so many different avenues: ringtones, video, radio – and these are singles that people hear over and over and over again. So really, unless you have fans or somebody who just wants to go out and get your music, there’s nobody getting or checking the album.

HipHopCanada: What’s your biggest pet peeve?
[Thinking] Pet peeve... I really like organization and how things are done, especially like, my house, and things [that are] close to me. I like them neat.

HipHopCanada: Any other projects you’re working on that you’d like to mention?
I just wrapped a Gangsta Grillz with Drama. It will feature me and a couple of Street Family artists like Paul Caine, Freck the Billionaire and Red Café. We’re also working on a Street Fam compilation that will be put out independently and of course I’m going to start working on my next album.

HipHopCanada: Any last words?
Thank you for picking up the album and supporting everything, not just for From Nothing to Something, but all albums in the past. I appreciate all the love that I get.

Editor’s note: For more information on Fabolous, please visit his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/fabolous.

  

Lola Plaku http://www.myspace.com/lola00 http://www.iluvlola.net Lola Plaku is a senior writer/journalist for HipHopCanada.com. She has been writing for the company since early 2005. Lola also work does PR work for several clients, keeping a strong focus on their press material and presentation. In addition to writing for HipHopCanada.com, Lola also writes for Swagg News, and has her own column called Ask Lola, where people write her in for advice on different areas of life and the entertainment industry. Lola is the Toronto Representative for a DVD based out of NY by the name of Epydemik, where she provides content from the industry in Toronto.