Fabolous’ newest creation, craftily entitled, The Young OG Project is almost a new classic; uniquely recreating the infamously familiar tunes of 90’s Hip-Hop, paying huge homage to New York’s Finest; A Tribe Called Quest, Biggie, JayZ & Nas. Fabolous recently inked a deal with Roc Nation management, after working with JayZ several times in the past. The Young OG Project is his sixth studio album, his first since 2009, following 2 releases of his Soul Tape mixtape series.
He remixes Biggie’s popular “All Good” for a new rendition where he slyly spits bars that are reminiscent of the good times like J J & em, yet equally produces a gritty feel made perfectly to groove to. Although inspired by some of the greats, we can call Fab a lyrical genius for his unique style of creating catchy and clever terminology that not only serves as cultural colloquialism for Hip-Hop culture, but trending hashtags on Twitter and Instagram; #ThimSlick, #Lituation, #CommitSinsforChipotle, #SkinToneLikeHershey #BodyLawdHaveMercy . He does it again perfectly on tracks such as “We Good” featuring Rich Homie Quan where he coins the term 4peat, a play on the words fore play and repeat. In “Gone For the Winter,” he changes the word English by removing the first two letters and adding King as a prefix, creating the word Kinglish, which is sure to be added to the vocabulary of every urban youth nationwide. Many forget that Fab isn’t new to this. “Came thru in 98, been repping since,” he says on the same track.
He may not be an R&B dude, but he makes R&B moves, check his track record. With classic hits for the ladies such as “Can’t Let You Go,” featuring Lil’ Mo and “So Into You” his duet with Tamia, he’s been there and done that. Fab describes his music as “No slow jams, just street nigga raps,” but he doesn’t give himself enough credit. With sultry singing from Abir Haronni on the chorus of the last track, “The Young OG Project II” and Chris Brown on “She Wildin’,” he still holds it down for the ladies.
The rest of the album takes you to different places. “You Made Me” featuring Tish Hyman starts off with a revealing interlude, “I think we all try to be good people, but it’s things you go through that make you who you are…” The rest of the track picks up as Fab drops some street jewels “I just gotta be who I be/ don’t let it jade me/ Life gave me lemons/ it’s time to lemonade me.”
The first single “Litutation” is a classic turn up track, whereas “Cinnamon Apple,” a sample of “Bonita Applebaum” by Tribe Called Quest is a recollection of his first love from middle school.
By releasing this latest album on iTunes on December 25th, Fabolous remains consistent in his delivery on Christmas Day i.e.; Soul Tape 1 & 2 and he has yet disappoint. It’s safe to call The Young OG Project JazzTrap for its collection of rhythm and blues, Hip-Hop, Rap and cool jazz beats.
The Young OG Project receives a PARL
Stream the album before you buy here: