Fabulous

John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American hip hop recording artist from Brooklyn, New York. His first release was the 2001 Ghetto Fabolous, which spawned the hit singles "Can't Deny It" and "Young'n (Holla Back)". His second release was the 2003 album Street Dreams, which spawned the two top-10 hits "Can't Let You Go" with Lil' Mo and Mike Shorey, and "Into You", with Tamia/ Ashanti. He is also known for his songs, "Breathe", "Make Me Better" from the 2007 album From Nothin' to Somethin', "My Time" and "Throw It in the Bag" from his most recent album, Loso's Way. Fabolous is also signed to Diddy's Ciroc Management company. Early life edit: Fabolous was born John David Jackson on November 18, 1977 of Dominican and African American descent. He grew up in Brevoort Houses in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Music career edit: While in high school in twelfth grade, Fabolous began to pursue a rap career. He was invited to rap live on DJ Clue's radio show and on WQHT Hot 97, where he was signed to Desert Storm Records. He was featured on several DJ Clue mixtapes and mixtapes with Roc-A-Fella artists. This earned Fabolous and Desert Storm a distribution deal with Elektra Records. 2001-02: Ghetto Fabolous edit: Fabolous released his debut album, Ghetto Fabolous, on September 11, 2001. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, selling over 143,000 copies in its first week. The album's first single, "Can't Deny It", was produced by Rick Rock and features a chorus by Nate Dogg interpolating Tupac Shakur's song "Ambitionz Az a Ridah". It charted on the Billboard Hot 100, along with two of the subsequent singles. The other charting singles were "Young'n (Holla Back)", which is produced by The Neptunes and "Trade It All", which features vocals from Jagged Edge and is produced by DJ Clue and Duro. 2003: Street Dreams edit: Fabolous released his second album Street Dreams on March 4, 2003. Powered by a Just Blaze beat and guest vocals from Lil' Mo and Mike Shorey, "Can't Let You Go" reached number one on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart and number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Into You" with Tamia also reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Also released on Street Dreams was the lead single club banger "This Is My Party" and "Trade It All Pt. 2" which featured Jagged Edge as it did on the Ghetto Fabolous version, as well as Diddy. Exactly seven months later, on November 4, 2003, Fabolous dropped his official mixtape, More Street Dreams, Pt. 2: The Mixtape. It was an official release by his record label, Elektra. The album featured remixes and tracks not originally slated on Street Dreams. This album was also an outlet for his three man crew, known as the Triangle Offense, consisting of himself, Paul Cain, and Joe Budden. The album actually features a remix to song Fire, which was originally on Joe Budden's self-titled debut album. 2004-06: Real Talk edit: Fabolous' third album Real Talk was released on November 5, 2004. It debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 with 179,000 copies and had two charting singles, the lowest in his career. The two charting singles are his street anthem "Breathe" and "Baby," which features Mike Shorey, and shows his more sensitive side that he has shown on many songs in the past. His second single was not promoted until weeks after the album's release. "Tit 4 Tat" was his third single. Pharrell of The Neptunes produced it and did the hook. Fab feels that the single didn't hit it as big as it should have due to poor advertising. Making the music video for his fourth single, "Do the Damn Thing" cost Jackson $30,000. The song featured Young Jeezy, who became known to the public through the video. The same year, Fabolous was nominated for a Grammy Award for his collaboration on the "Dip It Low" remix by Christina Milian. In early 2006, Fabolous moved to Def Jam and left Atlantic Records who received Musiq in return. 2007-08: From Nothin' to Somethin' edit: His fourth studio album, From Nothin' to Somethin, was released in June 2007. Fabolous took the number one spot on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts for the first time in his career and it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 159,000 copies in its first week. The album was certified Gold in July 2007. It is his first album on Def Jam Recordings. He was featured on the cover of video game Def Jam: Icon. The first single and video, "Diamonds", features Young Jeezy who also appeared on the Real Talk track "Do the Damn Thing". Lil Wayne and Remy Ma are featured on the remix. His second single was "Return of the Hustle" which featured Swizz Beatz, also came out before the album release, to some acclaim, but little airplay. His third single though, "Make Me Better," which features fellow Def Jam artist Ne-Yo, and is produced by Timbaland, was his biggest hit to date, spending 14 weeks at number one on the Hot Rap Track Billboard Chart. The fourth single was "Baby Don't Go." Jermaine Dupri produced it and T-Pain sings the hook. However, in music video version of the song, Jermaine Dupri sings the hook. This song also found success, reaching number four on the Hot Rap Track Chart. 2009: Loso's Way edit: Fabolous released his fifth studio album, Loso's Way, in July 2009. The album is based on the 1993 film Carlito's Way, similar to Jay-Z's American Gangster. The first official single is "Throw It in the Bag", featuring The-Dream, and is produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. The second single is "My Time", featuring Jeremih, and is produced by The Runners and Kevin "KC" Cossom. The third single is "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere", featuring Keri Hilson, and is produced by Ryan Leslie. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 99,000 copies in its first week. It became Fabolous' first album to top the chart. In its second week of sales, the album dropped 8 spots from #1 to #9, selling 37,000 copies. A deluxe album was released on the same day as the standard release. The edition features a bonus DVD, ("Loso's Way" the movie). The movie features Fabolous (and three other of his friends). Fabolous is leaving a restaurant when he is shot. His three friends quickly rush Fabolous to the hospital, but are stopped by the police after running a red light. Fellow rapper Styles P has a role in the movie. DJ Clue, DJ Khaled, Jadakiss, Swizz Beatz, DJ Envy, and Ryan Leslie make cameo appearances. The movie "Loso's Way" runs for 33:03 minutes. In order to view "Loso's Way", the deluxe album "Loso's Way" must be purchased. In September 2009, Fabolous was ranked number eight on MTV's Hottest MC in the Game list. In an interview on December 10, 2009 with MTV, he announced that he would be releasing part two to his mixtape series with DJ Drama entitled: "There is No Competition - Part 2: The Funeral Service." Fabolous announced that it would be released on Christmas Day as a gift to his fans. He then pushed back the release date multiple times via Twitter before he and DJ Drama finally released the mixtape online on March 4, 2010. 2010-present: There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Music EP and Loso's Way 2 edit: Fabolous released There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Music EP on August 29, 2010. Due to his album being pushed back The SOUL Tape was released on April 22, 2011 which features Fabo and his guests rapping over soul beats. On Christmas Day 2011, Fabolous released the third mixtape in his series; There Is No Competition 3: Death Comes in 3's. On November 22, 2012 Fabolous released another mixtape, The S.O.U.L. Tape 2 also announcing his sixth album, Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power is coming in 2013. The SOUL Tapes were inspired by his first freestyle of "Devil in a New Dress" by Kanye West. Guests on the second installment include Trey Songz, Pusha T, Cassie, J. Cole, Wale and Joe Budden. Production came from Streetrunner, Treddy da Don, AraabMuzik and Cardiak among others. The first official single from Loso's Way 2 is "Ready" which features singer Chris Brown. Loso's Way 2 is currently scheduled to be released on June 18, 2013. Clothing line edit: Fabolous stated in 2004 that he wanted to release his own clothing line. The line called "Rich Yung Society" was launched in 2006. Personal life edit: Family edit: In an interview with XXL, Fabolous revealed that he has been in a long-term relationship with stylist Emily Bustamante, who recently appeared in VH1's Love & Hip Hop, that began in 2001. He and his girlfriend had a son in February 2008 named Johan Jackson. Legal issues edit: In January and March 2003, Fabolous was arrested for possessing an unlicensed gun in his car. His bodyguard later showed proof of ownership for the gun. He was shot in his right leg, on the morning of October 17, 2006 in Manhattan after exiting Justin's, a restaurant owned by Sean "Diddy" Combs. Fabolous was treated at a local hospital, he was released eight days later. In June 2010 the NYPD was investigating a possible link between Fabolous and the murder of an upstart rapper named G-Baby near a Queens nightclub as he was shown leaving seconds after the murder occurred.

Source: Wikipedia

Text from this biography licensed under creative commons license