Fabolous

It's been a long minute since Fabolous dropped "Can't Deny It" and three years since his last album—and it sounds like he's still waking up. It's one thing to lounge on your laurels with an unhurried flow if you're packing a lyrical punch, but here Fabolous sounds laid-back to the point of being, well, slightly sedated.

Fabolous is at his sharpest when he has worthy sparring partners. He's on his game trading put-downs with Pusha T on "Joke's on You," comparing chains with Jeezy on "Diamonds" and mugging with the crew on "This Is Family." Problem is, these songs are solid partly because there's less of Fabolous. In fact, Fab is paired with a guest on all but one track—it's almost as if Def Jam was afraid to let him out without a chaperone.

The more R&B-oriented tracks are a mixed bag as well. The stand-out of these is "Make Me Better," a Timbaland-produced duet with Ne-Yo, set to melancholic strings that could be jacked from a vintage Wu-Tang tearjerker. But when Fab gets clingy with T-Pain on "Baby Don't Go," the emotion is overdone.

Speaking of emotion, perhaps that's what's largely lacking here. Fabolous appears reluctant to delve into much material from his own life; neither his recent shooting nor his long-term relationship are discussed. What he draws on for his raps is his business, of course, but one wishes the stories he does reach for were a bit less shopworn.

—Toby Warner
06.19.07

Fabolous' new label, Def Jam, rolls out a wide red carpet for From Nothin' to Somethin', enlisting a great deal of starpower to bolster its new artist's fourth album. Akon, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Lloyd, Junior Reid, and even Ne-Yo (on a track produced by Timbaland) make appearances, while there is room made for past collaborators like Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz, Young Jeezy, longtime cohort DJ Clue?, and the otherwise missing-in-action Lil' Mo. In another sense, it's the same old, same old, with Fabolous covering a bunch of niches: there's the booming, borderline sluggish Southern track (the Jeezy feature "Diamonds"), a couple raucous East Coast bangers ("Brooklyn," "Return of the Hustle"), several R&B crossovers, and a couple melodramatic moments (including "What Should I Do"). Although this is one of the better albums in Fabolous' discography, the guest appearances are overwhelming, and the disc ends up similar to a compilation of Fabolous features, as if all guest stars gathered together and staged a coup. In at least half the tracks, the headliner struggles to reclaim the spotlight, and at times it seems entirely possible that the space is being used for something other than an actual Fabolous album. For instance, Akon not only dominates "Change Up," but two of the singer/producer's artists -- T-Pain and Red Café -- are heard on other tracks. Those looking to the disc for some pure top-form Fab will find a few spots of hotness, especially within "Brooklyn" -- a geographic anthem that outstrips Busta Rhymes' "New York Sh*t." Given Fab's usual kicked-back demeanor, some wordplay is bound to be overlooked (like "They should call me Karat Jeter, maybe Canary Bonds"), but regardless, there is not enough of it. After all, a separation of Fabolous' rhymes from all the guest verses and vocal hooks would result in two EPs: one by Fabolous and another by a mismatched supergroup. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide