Fabolous - Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever

Fabolous
Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever
2019
Spotify

I have some friends who stay obsessed with early 2000s hip hop, especially the New York venison. To them the heights were Those TRL moments where Hip Hop truly break through the pop world in a major way. Hip Hop was no longer the outsider, but THE center of pop culture. Fabolous was at the center of all this, one foot in the pop world with another fully entrenched in hip hop culture. Many artists from this era have fallen off, but Fabolous continues to make music his way on his terms. He's been touring and making music while staying relatively under the radar. That is for anyone who doesn't follow hip hop particularly close. For them Fabolous has been doing Fabolous since the beginning. Clearly fame and clout chasing are not something He is concerned about because His music never really tries to be anything other than what it is. He doesn't want to be Kendrick or Kanye, Fabolous wants to do Fabolous. "Gone For the Summer" is a super relaxed track but represents all the best parts of Fabolous. While Hip hop is moving into shorter songs, likely spurred on by Kanye and the prevalence of repetitive trap beats. this album allows the songs to ride out and find their groove. It also allows for more robust features from the likes of Meek Mill, Gucci Mane, Teyana Taylor and many more. It's a big wide hip hop album but one that is laser focused on things that make Fabolous shine.

Somehow Fabolous found some magic here and manages to make every feature sound better than they have in awhile. Gucci Mane delivers a cutting and light verse in a way that has been missing from his style for awhile. 2 Chainz also makes a wonderful return on "Options" which is an all out celebration of a track. This album manages to find a place where it is fun without being corny and serious without being too heavy. His flexing feels real rather than posturing and it allows you to sit back and just enjoy the words He is saying. The fun continues on "Us vs. The World" as the beat contains a creaking bed in the background. I don't know why I like this so much, and I don't know if I will keep listening over and over, but this feels like a breathe of fresh air in a hip hop landscape that has gotten pretty stale. Who knew it would be Fabolous to make us remember there is still some fun to be had in this world.

8.1 out of 10