s a child, young Mason Betha wanted to be a rapper. He practiced and practiced, and wrote in his notebook his witty rhymes day after day. Eventually, he became pretty decent, and started to make it big, appearing on a remix by Mariah Carey and being snatched up by a funny looking CEO who enjoyed dancing in his video. Mase dropped a popular solo with a few funny moments, both because of good and bad lyrics, which was heavily pop-influenced. Weak, but at least it showed Mase’s capabilities. If only he could improve his lazy flow and get away from Puffy.


Wait, I’m reviewing Ghetto Fabolous, not Double Up. Silly me. Just because Fabolous sounds like Mase doesn’t mean they’re exactly the same. It is true, though, that all you have to do is replace Mase with Fabolous, Mariah Carey with Lil’ Mo, and Puffy with DJ Clue, and you have Fabolous’ life story. And that’s definitely Fabolous spelled “F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S”, because he spells it out in almost every one of his songs.


The name of Fabolous’ delivery is “hit and miss”. On some songs, he’s above average, even nearing good. On other songs, he’s awful, and can’t compete with even some of the weakest MCs. The subject matter on all but one song is the exact same thing – himself. Throughout this album I learned that Fabolous has a lot of cars. He will not hesitate to shoot me. Girls love him, his funny smile, and his big lips. Yada, yada, yada. The only song that even nears a story with a conscience is One Day, discussing Fabolous’ days growing up and hustling. It’s not really original, seeing as how almost every rap star feels forced on putting a song like this on the album. However, Fabolous does get credit for his attempt, it isn’t bad. Of course, being an okay song on a bad album isn’t something to be real proud of.


The terrible atrocity brought by Fabolous are the hooks that appear on this album. Let’s visit a few: “Holla back, Young’n... Hoo Hoo! Holla back.. Hoo Hoo!”on Young’n. Ladies- Rub ya tits if ya gettin right (Hey) Niggas- Grab ya dicks if ya gettin right (Ho)/Don't be thinkin bout that nigga that you wit tonite/Don't be thinkin bout that chick that you wit tonite” on Get Right. And finally, "I really just wanna get smart until I feel like a genius/And all that I ask is/That you help me get good grades in all of my classes/Still what I mean is/I really just wanna get smart until I feel like a genius/And all that I ask is/That you help me get good grades, Ma in all of my classes” on Get Smart. Atrocious, absolutely atrocious. I believe that hooks are generally not necessary in rap music. They are helpful in some places – after all, they do make some songs memorable and some of them even make the song better (see Gangstarr’s: The Militia). However, it is also easy to forget that the hook is what is remembered first and most from the song, and what is repeated the most. A bad hook kills the songs. This is the first strike on Ghetto Fabolous.


The second strike is the production. The production list is pretty impressive: Timbaland, Rick Rock, Just Blaze, the Neptunes, and Rockwilder with DJ Clue providing executive production. You would think that this means banger after banger, and with Fabolous’s reputation as a punchline only rapper, at least a decent album. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Timbaland track, "Right Now & Later On", is Tim’s probably worst produced track ever, and the rhymes aren’t a whole lot better. "Young’n", the song with the worst hook on the album, is produced by the Neptunes, and the beat is pretty enh, and the rhymes are awful. At least Rick Rock’s "Can’t Deny It" featuring Nate Dogg is banging. The rest of the production is forgettable at best, ear grating at worst.


The guests on the album are worse than the producers. The only tolerable guest is Nate Dogg. Jagged Edge, Li’l Mo, and Ja Rule, three of my least favorite entities in hip-hop, pop up on the rest of the CD and take away from the songs that they appear on. However, credit is due to Fabolous for not choosing guests that outshine him, because they are somehow worse than he is.


Poor guy. During the summer of 2001, Fabolous was all the rage, appearing on the remix to Li’l Mo’s "Superwoman" and dropping a hot verse or two, and pretty much tearing up 112’s "Peaches and Cream Remix". It's obvious the potential is there. However, he has not come close to reaching it on this release. Here’s the best verse on the album, from “Can’t Deny It”: "When the time's right, I'ma put this nine right/to the left side of ya head, push ya mind right/It's still nothin but a G thang, I thought you knew/And I'm bout to do the numbers that they thought you do/Still don't know me, still jump in a Lex/The chain so icey, I got chill bumps on my neck”. Not bad, but not anything new, either. Fabolous may have Jadakiss syndrome. Hot on a guest appearance, hot on a remix, but not someone you want to hear by themselves for very long. The best example of this is "Keepin’ It Gangsta". The original, from the album, is pretty weak. However, the remix (white label only) features Styles and Jadakiss from the LOX, Fab’s brother Paul Cain, and M.O.P. Both members of the LOX and Fab and his brother come off better than normal, in fact, they all sound really good. But by themselves? They just don’t work. Here’s hoping Fabolous finds a mentor that can help him refine the wittiness into real songs.