Fabolous On “7PM In Brooklyn”

Fabolous talks Lil’ Wayne’s influence in Hip-Hop, Drake v Kendrick Battle, plus more on “7PM in Brooklyn”.

We share this week’s episode of “7PM in Brooklyn”, a Wave Sports + Entertainment Original, hosted by NBA legend, Carmelo Anthony, and multi-talented comedian and host, The Kid Mero.

This week, the guys are joined by rapper and Brooklyn native, Fabolous.

During the conversation, Fabolous discusses his near 25-year career, the state of Hip-Hop today including the Drake versus Kendrick battle, as well as the legacy and legendary influence of Lil’ Wayne.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• (16:19): FAB SAYS GROWING UP AROUND GRAFFITI CULTURE INFLUENCED HIM TO DO HIP-HOP

Fab: “I love the artistic thing on the outside where it was pieces and characters and stuff like that. So that’s what kind of got me into graffiti at the time and it’s also an unwritten kind of penmanship with graffiti. So when you sign your name sometime you can see it. If I see other people– Fat Joe for one Fat Joe will sign his name. You can tell Fat Joe used to write himself graffiti– that to me was the texture of hip hop to me, man. I was never really a break dancer. I was never really a dancing period at all, but graffiti, rapping, I mean that was the culture that I grew up in.”

• (28:39): FAB SAYS A KEY MOMENT IN HIS CAREER WAS MAKING THE DECISION TO LEAVE INTERSCOPE AND STAY WITH DJ CLUE

Fab: “I was signing an Interscope [Records] through [DJ] Clue and at the time I think Clue got let go from Interscope and they had came to me about either just staying on Interscope and the clue wouldn’t be there anymore or leaving with Clue and I guess just not having a deal anymore. So it was a real decision for me because at that time too, aspiring as an artist, having a record deal was the end all be all of the ladder of success of you doing what you want to do but I chose to leave with Clue and not have a deal because me staying there without Clue– one, Clue brought me into that situation so it was a loyalty there, but also he also was kind of my guy in an industry that I didn’t really know. So I could have stayed there. I would’ve been with no real figure connecting me to them. They probably would’ve just put me with A&R who never signed me in the first place. It is just maybe a job or something to them and I would’ve had to deal with that other than dealing with my guys that I came into the building with. I chose to go with Clue.”

• (26:53): FAB SAYS HE LEARNED THAT IN ORDER TO HAVE LONGEVITY AS AN ARTIST YOU CAN’T RELY ON JUST RECOGNITION AND CREDIT

Fab: “I’m more motivated by if I receive the flowers or when people see me and recognize what you accomplished. I’m saying I can’t expect everybody to see it from fellow’s angle or see it from whatever. Credit, is great, but some places don’t take credit. Flowers is great. Flowers die though. You got to keep going based on without people giving you anything.”

• (41:16): MELO SAYS REWATCHING HIS GAMES WITH HIS SON HAS GIVEN HIM NEW PERSPECTIVE

Melo: “So I have to go back and watch it and I just love it. I just love, you know what I mean? I love the game. You know what I’m saying? I’m a student of the game so if I’m looking at trying to perfect shit and I know what I’ve done, I know the work that I’ve put in so I know what I’m looking for. I know the sharpness that I’m looking for. I know the movement that I’m looking for and I critique myself more now going back…So now when I critique myself, my son is like, oh shit. Oh damn. So he’s seeing the bullshit that I was doing at 19, 20, 21 years old that I was fighting at that point in time if somebody was saying that about me, right? So it’s a lot of perspective, rewatching that shit. It puts you into a different mindset.”

• (01:01:43): FAB ON THE INFLUENCE OF LIL’ WAYNE IN HIP-HOP

Fab: “I was talking about Lil’ Wayne that I think that he’s not always recognized for as far as his footprint on the game as far as even just the texture, the look, he influenced a lot of what, even so much that it’s gotten away from him. You see it is either a norm or you connected to somebody else, but it really came, he became like the grandfather of it. You know what I’m saying? Y’all might even be just connecting it–but you didn’t even see that the face tats or the dreads or the skinny jeans, whatever, all of that came from a lineage of Wayne bringing that to the game…but he brought it to the culture.”

• (01:04:49): FAB ADVISED BOBBY SHMURDA ON HOW TO MANAGE HIS MONEY AFTER HE BLEW UP

Fab: “I talked to one time to Bobby Shmurda when he was coming out, he was in the heat of his shit, but he was just going through a lot of shit on a back burner with management and shows and shit like that. Because a lot of guys, they, even if they catch a record and they hot and they getting money and they don’t come from any background of having to know how to manage that or know how to– so one time I just sat in the dressing room just kicking it with him and telling him some kind of just ways to figure through it. He was already knee deep in it, you know what I’m saying? So I was just like, well you got to go do this and you got to do that and you got to also pay attention from this point too because now that you know what’s going on, you got to pay attention to everything.”

• (01:06:42): FAB SAYS THE DRAKE V KENDRICK BATTLE WAS A GREAT MOMENT FOR HIP HOP

Fab: “Drake Kendrick shit just recently, that’s a great moment for hip hop. That’s two of the top dogs. You might’ve not seen nothing like that since Jay [Z] and Nas. That was a moment for hip hop– it was also played out in this era too where you getting it so much faster because it’s the internet and they got to respond on internet time. I do think Kendrick was prepared. I think he loaded the clip and was ready…just responding. But I think it’s definitely, I think it was a great moment for hip hop. I also think for those type of MCs it will keep them sharp. I think they both might’ve even needed that in a sense. It’s a lesson in competition that you learned from where you got to out do someone to prove why you’re valuable and I think that gets learned. Is it going to make or break either him and Drake? I don’t think so. I think Drake will be fine even with everybody concerned and asking about it and all new shit that’s going on with the Super Bowl and all of that. But I think everybody will be fine. I’m I think it was just a moment the same way Jay and Nas are fine–they end up doing songs after it together. You know what I mean? It’s just going to be all right.”

• (01:11:20): FAB SAYS HE WANTED LIL’ WAYNE TO HEADLINE THE SUPER BOWL HALFTIME SHOW BUT HE UNDERSTANDS THE AUDIENCE WATCHING IS BIGGER THAN HIP-HOP

Fab: “Look who’s performed in recent years all the way back. It’s been whoever’s the big pop moment of that time, I don’t think they do it by who’s right or who make the hip hop culture– and the audience that watches it is way bigger than the hip hop culture too. So they making decisions in a different way. Would the hip hop culture love one? Yes. We all want Lil’ Wayne at the Super Bowl.”