Fabolous is one of the great rappers of the 21st century, he can rhyme, he write a hook, he is flow to burn, comfortable with gangsta and comfortable with love songs. At the age of 35, he is an elder statesmen with street cred (he grew up in a Bed-Stuy Housing Project), hit singles, five albums and many mix-tapes and a reputation in the industry. A good one. Fab is in a monogamous relationship and has a son, he has been arrested exactly once, for possession of a gun, before it was discovered he had a license. The man is the poster child for adult rappers.
But on stage at BB King’s, it becomes clear his live show is a sledgehammer of (live) bass and rumble. Two mics, a coupla Power Tools, a bass and drums and a smack head rush of rap classic after rap classic, where even the soul classic 2002’s “Into You” (featuring Ashanti) sounds similar to the rest of the songs in the 90 minute set. My nephew, Jeff McColl, was with me, and he responded very well to the verbal hooks, as did the audience as a whole, but as music it didn’t take itself anywhere and more is the pity.
“You know how bands never play anything you wanna hear?” Jeff asked. “Well, Fabolous played EVERYTHING you wanna hear”. Opening with a half dozen tracks off his December 2012 Soul Tape II which went down very well, Fabolous went deep into his catalog, “Into You”, Can’t Let You Go”, a huge “Breathe”, The first album highlight “Can’t Deny It” became a huge singalong and “Young ‘N” with the “woooh wooh” hook was a complete showstopper. Personal favorite “Imma Do It” was played too early and he didn’t bring out opener Pusha T for their collaboration “The Life Is So Exciting (though Fab did add a “Big Pimpin’ sample and it sounded better than just about anything else).
Wearing a Dodgers 42 shirt and his ubiquitous sunglasses, Fabolous is a good looking guy but he doesn’t dance, instead he restlessly wanders the stage while pounding out the usual dumbass “put your arms in the air” ritual rap crap. He has been doing this for years and with many a great song at his disposal and preaching to the converted at a sold out BB King’s, he must have been well into his comfort zone, and I am not complaining that his performance was rote by any means, but it was more of the same and Fabolous deserves better.
The band is a disappointment, maybe the sound system is screwing stuff up, the bass is too heavy and the songs blur after awhile. And songs can’t sell themselves, songs needed to be presented and played well. Does knowing the chorus add up to a successful live performance. Everything is better on record, maybe that is the curse of hip hop.
There’s a cool caginess about Fabolous, he doesn’t let you see him sweat and his performance has an edge of implied arrogance just because the effort seems so minimal. His connection to the band and to the audience is devoid of anything approaching a big gesture, and his profuse declarations, this is, after all the man who rapped “I’m so New York Weezy probably don’t like me” sound like canned hat tipping.
But the effort is really there: Going real deep, Fabolous brought out Meek Mill’s “Racked Up Shorty” and brought the house down and in a set which took him from 2000 to his 2013 Chris Brown featuring “Ready”., he played everything you wanted and then some.And if he was calm and excited, he had the power of a man with his finger on the audiences buttons. If Fabolous isn’t a great live performer he is still a pro, still knows how to deliver the goods and he is a great rapper and terrific on record.
Keezy, Weezy Jeezy -they are all big babies, spoiled little brats. Fabulous is the real thing, real rap, real mainstream hip hop at its best and he is no worse on stage than most hip hop stars, than Jay-Z was at Barclay’s Center. Fabolous remains “the city saliva”. Kinda hard for a website called rock nyc not to give him props? Why even try. Let’s give Jeff the last word: “Fabolous is one of the top five rappers of all time”.
Grade: B+