COWABUNGA- Yeah, I changed the title, but this is more fitting. Haven't done a 'music review' in awhile, seeing as how I'm no longer in Wisconsin and I don't have endless time on my hands. Since I'm late with this 'review' (I think the only one I've ever got out in a timely fashion was Nas's God's Son) I'ma try something new with this here, dunno if I'll keep this format, but basically in addition to my thoughts on each song I'll throw in some memorable lines from it where applicable.
Fabolous-Street Dreams
2003 Desert Storm/Elektra
01.Intro
Generic DJ Clue intro. Short and inoffensive.
02.Not Give A Fuck | Production: Rick Rock
The guy who puts in years of work for E-40 and other Bay Area cats, but does one joint for Fabolous ('Can't Deny It') and then heats up hotter than fish grease turns in what I consider to be a much better effort than said song.
-with a mad dam from France/with an ass so big you couldnt hide it in Hammer pants
-half of my roots is Dominican/Fabolouso! Me gusta les benjamins
03.Damn | Production: Tone & Poke
I think Fab is rolling with either this or the Lil' Mo song as his second single...all I can say is that this is the better song of the two, but that's not saying much. I can picture this as a club song, but not something that'll get crazy airplay. The only saving grace I can think of is 'cowabunga!'
-I'm smoother than white vanilla fudge and white and yellow studs/cause if they witness how I'm killin em out here these girls just might go tell the judge 'I rest my case'
-all you gotta do is swallow some kids/like that witch did Hansel and Gretel
-and my Mitchell and Ness throwbacks be so old they could be somebody grandparents
-you gotta catch it on tape/cause when the truck stop the rims still look like they on fast-forward
-cowabunga!
-the biggest dykes be/switching for dudes with figgas like me
04.Call Me | Production: Tone & Poke
Now this song could be a radio hit. The female vocalist in here is XO (never heard of her), but this track has a pleasant kiddy feel to it and I think should be considered if a third single is needed.
-cause I'm like Dirk when I'm diggin in/the way she workin I'm figurin/she must be a gymnast/positions wasn't hurtin her ligaments
-but I've been hidin'/cause this girl lookin for the kid like Bush was searching for Bin Laden
05.Can't Let You Go f/Mike Shorey & Lil' Mo | Production: Just Blaze
Just Blaze is synonymous with Roc-a-Fella, and thus is synonymous with Dick Suckin' Lips. Anger....rising....doesn't help that this song in my opinion isn't very good, but bah. I've already heard it on the radio, but then again 92.3FM often plays songs out of top 40 rotation.
06.Bad Bitch | Production: Precision
Cool beat, Fabolous rhymes about (see below) nailing two girls for most of the song.
-so when you see lipstick on both cheeks/that means I slipped dick in both freaks/they started calling me Two-Time Johnny/after repeatedly leaving the club with two dime mamis
-boo, my government is personal/but I've got enough sets of twins to make Doublemint commercials
-the stacks that I be splurgin have girls in the back of the Excursion forgettin about the fact that they was virgins
07.Why Wouldn't I f/Paul Cain | Production: Omen
Shittiest beat on the album. I believe Paul Cain is Fabolous' brother, but he sounds much harder and grittier than Fab. Not necessarily a good thing, but at least they don't have identical flows, as they trade off throughout their verses.
-green and creme Timbs, broccoli and potatoes
08.Up On Things f/Snoop Dogg | Production: Clue & DURO
Smooth-ass beat with a nice, generic piano loop. Snoop's only on the hook, which can be seen as a testament to Fabolous not depending on guest verses on his album or how I see it, a waste of a Snoop Dogg appearance.
-I'm the boss/something like Springsteen/I got something that bring green/that look something like string beans
-we gon blast when we draw/I've been doing this since Jabbar was hooking off the glass in the Forum
09.Sickalicious f/Missy Elliot | Production: Chad Elliot
Subpar beat (is Chad related to Missy?), but the song picks up in the second half as Fabolous's smooth flow is at its best with the braggadocio rhymes.
-I'm the one like the Jet Li flick
-and I done slid more shots in than Gretzky's stick/I'm the one like Penny Hardaway's number
-I'm the one, like the piece that's on Nelly's chain/you can't reach me, I'm out of your celly range (background:2 is not a winner, and nobody remembers)
10.This Is My Party | Production: Mr. Fingaz & Linx
Fab's first single, kind of underwhelming, but it's grown on to me (cognitive dissonance seems to be the only IBPsych reference I am ever able to use). But yeah, Fabolous rolls with a slightly modified flow on this track.
-that groupie made her way/cause when she seen the whips and chains she started talking bout she ready to be made a slave
-with asses pokin' out like them pictures in pop-up books
11.Into You f/Ashanti | Production: Clue & DURO
This is another track that just screams to be a single. For creative hypocrisy, this should have been placed next to 'Bad Bitch' on the album since Fabolous is monogamous on this track. However, if this does end up getting radio airplay, the track should be renamed 'The Gift And The Curse' since no doubt the video would contain the OTHER princess of hip hop and R&B, Ja Fool.
-and any dude wit you/he better be of kin to you now, and I ain't jealous it's the principle now
12.Change You Or Change Me | Production: Omen
Damn, it's another Omen track that stinks up the place, although the piano loop rescues it from crapitude (yes, in case you haven't noticed, anything with a piano loop I will approve of). Fab just talks about people around him changing as a result of his fame.
13.Respect | Production: LZ
I'd consider this to be the hottest beat on the album, but it suffers from a lazy hook. Still a great track.
-my teflon, have you screamin' like Wyclef Jean/'someone please call 911'/but if they ever get the watch on my left arm/I'ma have more buried than that guy Stephon
-when pullin marijuana, I'ma wanna kill you/as bad as the Terminator wanted Sara Connor
-I've got the juice/like Bishop had with him/that just dont give a fuck semi/like O Dog had with him
14.Forgive Me Father | Production: Mr. Fingaz & Linx
The beat sounds Timbaland-ish...but whatever. Fabolous is at his wittiest with his lines on this track. Once again, a so-so hook kind of drags the song down, but it's still hot.
-maybe cause I'm eatin'/and these bastards fiend for my grub/I carry pumps like I serve gasoline for these scrubs
-anywhere the kid moves/you know the hammers'll be with me/pokin out the shirt like a pamela lee titty
-damn I got g with me along with the third leg/that I be rammin in these bitties/I keep the revolver you hope my gun'll jam/but with the scope this gun'll blam/the infa put freckles on your face like Opie Cunningham
-I'm in a waggie when I'm passin by ya/with a baby girl who suck harder than Maggie on a pacifier/what I'm smokin'll have you aggy at your last supplier/when you can smell it through the baggy you know that's some fire/gettin stressed by these hotties is regular/I got a magazine/to press to your body like editors/test me somebody I'm beggin ya/I got the gatling gun/like Jesse the Body in Predator
-any other dude who dish rocks want beef/cause I chop dimes bigger than Chris Rock front teeth
15.Never Duplicated | Production: MAAD PHUNK!
Fabolous calls out wannabes on this song...funny, because he seemed to be the second coming of Ma$e at least until Loon resurfaced under P. Diddy. But then again, I guess Fabolous has some form of street cred, so there you go. In creative hypocrisy, Fabolous busts on all these fake-Fabs out there and then rips another commercially prominent artist when he ends the song with 'so won't the real Fabolous please stand up/please stand up/please stand up.'
-excuse you/who's you/if I need a stunt double I'll use you/pardon y'all/I dont want to step on yall toes/I separate the authentic from the replica flow
-none of these wannabes really come close/I feel like im watching an MTV show/Christina Milian hosts
16.Wake Up | Production: Timbaland
WORST
TIMBALAND
PRODUCTION
EVARRRR
Just kidding.
Track 16 on (at least my copy of) the album is just a five-second pause of 'Never Duplicated' fading out then silence. But yeah, this is quite the disappointment.
17.My Life f/Mary J. Blige | Production: Kayne West
Kayne West is synonymous with Rockin'Fellas, and thus synonymous with DSL...GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION...in all seriousness though, this beat is pretty cool, but Mary is singing the hook which sounds like it was copped from some J.Lo song (all my love is all I have/and my dreams are very special/all my life I look for you/and today a dream come true/you need me and I need you, blahblahblah)
Bonus Tracks:
18.Throw Back | Production: Clue & DURO
Fabolous rhymes about throwback gear on this track, often wittily using city or sports team names in his rhymes. During his last verse however, he just seems to rush off a list of cities just for the sake of mentioning them.
19.Keepin It Gangsta (Remix) f/Styles, Jadakiss & M.O.P. | Production: Clue & DURO
Posse version of the song from his last album. Everyone comes off well with a tag team rhyme style, with the LOX members taking the first verse, Fab and Paul Cain taking the second, and M.O.P. on the end. Looking at the liner notes I learn that M.O.P. is officially on Roc-A-insertgayjokehere Records, giving me another reason to hate them.
-(Jadakiss)that's why I'm tryin to send this metal through ya head/cause you got me curious/you probably look better when you dead
-(Paul Cain)I toss bullets/New York niggas jet like Testaverde
-(Fabolous)all that gossip you blast/better see if they possibly have/a V-12 ambulance that get you to the hospital fast
-(Paul Cain)We been ridin together/and us back and forth/(Fabolous)it's like puttin Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden together/soon as you get a crumb they wanna bury ya/that's why I travel with a semi/like Eddie in Coming To America
-(Billy Danz or Fame?)don't get it fucked up or twisted cause you'll get it twisted and fucked up
-(Billy Danz or Fame?)catch your ass slippin I'ma pop a collar/BONE walk(?) mack when your bitch holla
20.Trade It All PT2 f/P. Diddy & Jagged Edge | Production: Clue & DURO
Originally appeared on the Barbershop soundtrack, all I remember about the video was Jalen Rose's presence and also that REALLY HOT blonde chick...I know I get a lot of flak for enjoying P. Diddy's work, but you've gotta admit, his presence on these ode-to-girl type songs only enhance it, rather than detract from it.
-Even though I've got the kind of bread that won't matter if a few crumbs are blown
-so ma come and yell at me/so I can put the top down/and we can cruise like Tom and Penelope
Now that I think about it, this probably took me much longer than my old format, but whatever. Not much else to do around 3A.M. (in case you're wondering about the slight posting delay I type up all my shit whenever on Notepad and then just tweak/upload it when I get the chance...prevents Internet Explorer 'accidents' from ruining minutes of my hard work).
So yeah, on this album, Fab gets no support from Timbaland or the Neptunes (although I assume that an engineering mistake led to the omission of the Timbaland track here), but most of the production he gets is still good, even though Clue & DURO only provide two real songs (and all of the bonus tracks) on the album...seriously, I haven't heard a Clue/DURO beat I haven't liked, although I think they only seem to do work for Fabolous and maybe Gay-Z (DJ Clue's mixtapes were Cock-A-Fella releases I think). If you liked Fabolous's first album, you'll like this as well, as he (thankfully) doesn't try to educate/become militant on this album and just sticks with what he does best. Man I should've done this lyric thing a looong time ago, at least so you guys can begin to see why I like people like South Park Mexican.
Rating: 5 weslicles  ()()()()() believe it, please | 
