Fabolous Biography

Fabolous comes from the line of southern-influenced New York rappers like Mase and Loon, an artist with a knack for catchy hooks and danceable beats. Like his name suggests, this artist’s career has been nothing short of fabulous since his debut album, Ghetto Fabolous, hit the hip-hop world in 2001. Ever since then, Fab has been collaborating with an All-Star cast of the music industry’s hottest artists, creating music that’s both popular with mainstream pop fans and dedicated hip hop enthusiasts who know street credential when they see it.Fabolous grew up in Brooklyn, New York as John Jackson, but after working with DJ Clue and other New York area artists- in association with miltiple different record agencies- he would finally become a star in his own right in 2001 under the Elektra label. “Can’t Deny It,” a breakout hit during the summer of ’01, preceded the release of his debut solo album, Ghetto Fabolous, which hit record stores in September of that year. “Can’t Deny It,” which featured Nate Dogg, was an instant radio favorite with fans of hip hop who didn’t necessarily care about bling and police rap sheets, but instead preferred an artist who could both fit in at a dance club as well as look sweetly intense on a Tiger Beat cover. Fabolous was an artist who could effortlessly mesh a hard credential with youthful round edges, exemplified by the juxtaposition of songs like “Keepin’ It Gangsta” next to songs like “Young’n” on the Ghetto Fabolous record.Fabolous later went on to work with Diddy, Jagged Edge, Pharell (the Neptunes) and T-Pain while dropping hit single after hit single. His second album, Street Dreams, came out in March of 2003. There was no time wasted making introductions with Street Dreams, as Fab dominated the charts for months. Singles like "Can’t Let You Go," "Into You" and "Trade It All" glided to the upper echelons of the Billboard Hot 100.In late 2004 Fabolous turned the heat up a notch with another album, Real Talk. The most popular song from Real Talk ended up being “Breathe,” which showcased Fabolous’ ability to pepper brutally real rhymes like jabs at a punching bag. Sure, there were tracks like “Baby” that were all champagne and midnight rides away from the club in an Escalade, but the Fab who was molded in Brooklyn shined through. When Def Jam landed Fabolous in 2006, he released From Nothin’ to Somethin,’ which positioned his talents alongside a whole new set of artists and opened the window to more diversified projects in the future.