Drake has given Fabolous his flowers, hailing the Brooklyn rapper as a major influence on his career.
The Her Loss hitmaker showed love to Loso on his Instagram Stories on Sunday (January 15) by posting a series of photos of the Summertime Shootout lyricist along with a few complimentary words.
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“Wouldn’t be anywhere without this guy real shit @myfabolouslife,” Drake wrote next to a photo of a young Fab rocking a New Jersey Nets jersey, baggy white T-shirt, durag and backwards fitted cap.
He added: “Was really just taking in how much you influenced everything for me.”
Drake also posted a throwback photo of Fabolous wearing an Orlando Magic jersey and matching cap, as well as a picture of him on the cover of Smack DVD magazine in 2005.
Fabolous, much like Drizzy has over the last 14 years, saw success in the 2000s by combining slick lyricism and smooth charisma with party-starting hits and R&B collaborations that showcased his sensitive thug side.
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After catching the attention of DJ Clue and signing to his Desert Storm imprint, Fab broke through into the mainstream in 2001 with his platinum-certified debut album Ghetto Fabolous, which spawned the hits “Can’t Deny It” featuring Nate Dogg and The Neptunes-produced “Young’n (Holla Back).”
Follow-up albums like Street Dreams, Real Talk and From Nothin’ to Somethin’ only solidified Fab as one of the defining rappers of his generation as he remained a staple on the radio and charts thanks to hits such as “Can’t Let You Go,” “Into You” and “Make Me Better.”
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The Bed-Stuy native was equally known for his fly fashion sense, helping to popularize the trend of oversized sports jerseys through iconic outfits in music videos like “Can’t Deny It,” “Basketball” and “Trade It All (Remix).” “You ever have Mitchell & Ness tryin’ to sponsor you?” he once bragged.
Fab’s blue Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers throwback jersey and bandana-over-the-cap ensemble in the former certainly made an impression on Drake, who recreated the look at his 2000s-themed 32nd birthday party in 2018.
The pair even worked together in 2009 when a then-rising Drizzy joined Fabolous and The-Dream on the remix to “Throw It in the Bag,” before they appeared on Chris Brown’s star-studded “Deuces (Remix)” the following year alongside André 3000, Kanye West, Rick Ross and T.I.
While collaborations between them have been few and far between since then, Fab did take a liking to Drake’s “Champagne Poetry” and “Churchill Downs” track with Jack Harlow last year, dropping his own versions called “Reposado Poetry” and “Ups & Downs Freestyle,” respectively.
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Things weren’t always so harmonious between Drake and Fabolous, though. In a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone, the OVO Sound boss threw shade at Loso when asked about Kanye West’s lyrics on Yeezus.
“There were some real questionable bars on there, like that ‘Swaghili’ line? Come on, man. Even Fabolous wouldn’t say some shit like that,” he said.
After his remarks caused a stir, Drake denied commenting on Ye’s Yeezus rhymes during the conversation and swore off all magazine interviews, calling the press “evil.”
As Fabolous revealed in an interview with MTV News later that year, the Toronto native apologized to him and the whole thing was quickly put to bed.
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“I spoke to Drake a little while after,” he said. “I ran into him at a Jordan Brand event and he was disgusted by how press will kinda instigate a story — make it seem worse than it was for the sake of being story.”
He added: “He apologized that I was even brought into that whole mess. I was shocked. Out of that conversation where they were talking about Jay and Kanye, for my name to come up in that mix, it definitely seemed like it was spoken up.
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“It’s over, it’s under the bridge. I got a lot of respect for what Drake does and he’s expressed to me personally, so we move on from there.”
