S. Samuel
New York rapper Fabolous may be a veteran in the rap game but Loso recently revealed how up-to-date he stays on hip-hop newcomers gaining mainstream attention.
According to Fab, he keeps up with today’s rising stars and acknowledged fellow Big Apple rapper A$AP Rocky.
“I like a lot of new stuff, but also I’m kinda traditional and old school, so I listen to but I’m also trying to give the ear to the new people,” he admitted. “So I’m always online and checking out the sites and hearing everybody from Kendrick Lamar to A$AP Rocky, those guys. I just like to check them out. I’m also a person who pays attention to what you’re saying so it’s not just your beats to me, so I gotta get into what you’re saying and then I can take everything in you know.” (XXL Mag)
Platinum-selling pop star Lady Gaga recently revealed her admiration toward Kendrick Lamar.
“@kendricklamar What a sweetie calling me this morning to see how I’m doin. See you soon. love from across the pond. #Rigamortis,” she tweeted July 4th.
“I hope so. he and his lyrics are the sh*t. RT @MixedHippy @kendricklamar @ladygaga are all of your fans gonna jump on him” (Lady Gaga’s Twitter)
This week, Harlem producer/rapper Webstar gave SOHH his take on Harlem rising stars like A$AP Rocky and Teyana Taylor.
“New York City is the Mecca for music. Hip-hop started in the Bronx. If you think about it, somebody new every year comes from Harlem. Whether it’s me or Vado or A$AP Rocky. I just think it’s a good thing to have. The more people that get record deals and that are coming from Harlem, it makes it easier for other people from Harlem to come out. I think if all of us stuck together more, we could have so much power. But we’re all cool. We all grew up together. Me and A$AP, me and Vado, Teyana Taylor, all of us are coming from the same place. We just don’t all work together for some reason. I’m not sure what that reason is but I think if we could all work together, we would be really, really powerful.” (SOHH)
A few years ago, Fabolous dished out some career advice to up-and-coming emcees.
“Really, I guess just coming in with not a lot of knowledge of what it takes to put out an album [is a mistake],” Fab explained in an interview. “Knowing the business relationship between you and your record label, a lot of people think it’s just going into the studio, being in the studio all night smoking and drinking and having your friends in there and then when the money don’t come back like it’s supposed to or the record labels taking every coin away from your album. Then they wanna look back and see what’s going on or flip out like, ‘Yo where’s my bread at?’ and it was there, but you ain’t do your business right. So I think everybody that comes in, you should talk with certain people or educate yourself to it by looking it up and checking out your business.” (SmackTube)
Check out some recent Fabolous footage below:
