My roommate is into the whole jiggy rapper routine and I am decidedly against it. He wanted me to download the new Fabolous album because it was hot. Let me tell you, whatever hot is, it has to be synonymous with crap. My tastes lie in the underground, where most true hip hop artists remain. These artists never see the success that mainstream rappers have, which can good and bad at the same time. Usually when a hip hop artist sticks to the underground, they stick with what got them into the game in the first place (usually thoughtful rhymes, but not always.) When one of these artists decides to jump the ladder into mainstream acceptance, they drop any resemblance of a hip hop artist and become whor*s of the music industry, molding themselves to what sells. I have developed a step by step theory by which hip hop artists can follow in order to change into jiggy rappers. Basically, what it takes to become a mainstream rapper nowadays is:  
 
a) Catchy, jiggy, club friendly beats (50 Cents In Da Club comes to mind).  
b) Generic subject matter about hos, cash, violence, sex, and drugs.  
c) A major label able to pay off MTV and payola radio stations.  
 
Thats the step by step process. You might be thinking, just three steps? Yes, my friend, thats all it takes. Of course not everyone makes it and not every mainstream rapper is like this, but typically, this outline is pretty all encompassing. Examples abound of such rappers. One such rapper is Fabolous. His album Street Dreams is an example of a mainstream creation. Remember the process, ladies and gents, youll see it comes in very handy.  
 
Track Listing  
 
 
1. Intro - 0:17  
2. Not Give a F*** - 3:18  
3. D*** - 3:24  
4. Call Me - 3:44  
5. Can't Let You Go  feat. Mike Shorey / Lil' Mo - 3:43  
6. Bad B**** - 3:37  
7. Why Wouldn't I  feat. Paul Cain - 4:58  
8. Up on Things  feat. Snoop Dogg - 3:42  
9. Sickalicious  feat. Missy Elliott - 4:03  
10. This Is My Party - 4:32  
11. Into You  feat. Ashanti - 4:34  
12. Change You or Change Me - 4:31  
13. Respect - 4:09  
14. Forgive Me Father - 4:19  
15. Never Duplicated - 3:55  
16. - 0:05  
17. My Life  feat. Blige, Mary J. - 4:24  
18. Throw Back [*] - 3:45  
19. Keepin It Gangsta [*]  feat. Styles / Jadakiss / M.O.P. - 5:09  
20. Trade It All Pt. 2 [*]  feat. P. Diddy / Jagged Edge - 4:35  
 
On To the Review  
 
This album is very generic and reminiscent of most mainstream rap. Example: the Intro. It serves absolutely no point except to take up space (a filler track, if you will.) DJ Clue basically says how everyone wants to be like his boy Fabolous and how everyone wants his life. Already the album starts off with negative marks.  
 
The first actual song, Not Give a F***, follows the first two letters in my step by step process to a tee. A deep, rubbery bass-line pounds away accompanied by some very basic, grating snare and bells. This satisfies (a) of my process to mainstream success. The beat is a typical club-ready creation, perfect for accompanying Fabolous lyrics. These following lyrics exemplify part (b) of my method.  
 
I'm fly enough, to do better,  
But pimp enough to not give a f***,  
And I'm thug enough, to do better,  
And gangsta enough to not give a f***,  
I'm hustlin' enough, to know better,  
But ballin' enough to not give a f***,  
And I'm, old enough, to know better,  
But young enough to not give a f***  
 
I think the lyrics speak for themselves.  
 
Damn incorporates a female singer as the hook, a shameful mainstream tactic popularized by the wack artist know as Ja Rule. This song reminds me of the Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken, where he is a producer of a band. "Guess what? he proclaims. I got a fever! And the only prescription... is more cowbell!" Funny stuff, but very applicable to this mainstream monstrosity of a song. Cowbells pervade throughout the song. Over and over, the same sample is used, to the point where the listener just wants to skip the song, or kill himself. The lyrics dont say anything either, which is to be expected.  
 
I cant help but think of Puff Daddy (P. Diddy) when listening to Call Me, or any song for that matter. Although Fabolous flow is much better than P Diddys, there is no escaping the fact that he sounds almost exactly the same, voice and tone wise. This song is about a girl that wants him to call her because they had such great sex together. Wow! How creative. Next  
 
The next song Cant Let You Go uses Nellys rhyming of thank ya and gangsta.  
 
And I respect ya gangsta  
Treat you like a princess  
And put something on your neck to thank ya  
 
This fact alone automatically submits it in the worst song of the album category. Essentially the song is about how he has a girlfriend and how much he likes having sex with her, but cant leave his wife. This is an extremely misogynistic track thats hidden in a glossy, acoustic guitar laced beat along with Lil Mo and Mike Shorleys strong singing.  
 
Bad B*tch also borrows rhymes from another album. This time its from The Clipse song, Lets Talk About It. The lyrics are along the lines of having fun with two girls. The track, production wise, is repetitive and unintelligent. This perfectly compliments the wack lyrics.  
 
Yeah, I'm a Ghetto Superstar ni**a  
Most ni**as trying to get one chick, right?  
I'm trying to get two  
You know, two is always better than one, right?  
Yeah..  
 
Why Wouldnt I also continues this charade of wack, pointless, misogynistic, money hungry, women objectifying tirade. This time Fab is joined by an unknown rapper, Paul Cain. Cain is even guiltier than Fabolous, since he assists Fab in continuing his moronity.  
 
I never thought I would say anything like this, but I actually like one of the songs on the album. Up On Things presents nothing new or exciting, but the piano driven, synth backed beat is very infectious. Snoop Dogg shows up for the chorus and some extremely pointless lyrics, but his presence is refreshing in a self-parody sort of way.  
 
This Is My Party just plain sucks. The beat is horrible, Fabolous rhymes are weak, and the chorus is completely and utterly wack! Skip at all costs!  
 
Ashanti stars on Into You, an attempt of introspection that goes horribly wrong. Apparently, Fab is attempting to be real with a girl, but all he does is talk about how much money he has and how hes greater than anyone else. What is this crap?  
 
Essentially, it would be a waste of time for me to continue my review, considering the fact that the rest of the songs follow the same routine of recycled subject matter, beats, and complete lack of talent/creativity. It seems to me that this entire album is just a lame attempt at making money. Every track is below average. If Fabolous doesnt step up his game and doesnt drops the clichs, hes never going to be played in my play list, thats for sure.  
