John David Jackson was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on November 18, 1977. He is of Dominican and African-American descent. He grew up in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in the Breevort Houses. He began rapping as Fabolous Sport during his senior year of high school, a reference to Ralph Lauren’s Polo Sport line. He later abbreviated it to Fabolous. The misspelling was unintentional; during a freestyle, he spelt “Fabulous” incorrectly as “Fabolous,” and the spelling stuck.
Personal Life
Fabolous and his girlfriend Emily Bustamante collaborate on two songs. Fabolous was arrested in January and March 2003 for having an unlicensed gun in his car. His bodyguard was later able to show proof of ownership of the gun. Fabolous was shot in the right leg as he was leaving Justin’s, a restaurant owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs, on October 17, 2006. Following the shooting, he and his companions were charged with criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a defaced firearm after being stopped for running a red light and police discovering two unlicensed guns in the car. He was treated for his injury at a nearby hospital and released after eight days.
Fabolous was arrested for domestic violence on March 28, 2018, after allegedly assaulting Bustamante. On October 10, 2018, he was indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey on four felony charges of domestic assault, and he is said to have accepted a plea deal in March 2019.
Career
DJ Clue signed him to his record label, Desert Storm Records after he was invited to rap live on his radio show by record producer and music executive DJ Clue. He then appeared on several DJ Clue mixtapes as well as mixtapes with Roc-A-Fella artists, which aided Fabolous and Desert Storm in landing a distribution deal with Elektra Records. Fabolous’ first studio album, “Ghetto Fabolous,” was released in September 2011. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 140,000 copies in its first week. On March 4, 2003, his second album, “Street Dreams,” was released. The song “Into You” featuring Tamia hit No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and “Can’t Let You Go” also hit No. 4 on the chart. On November 4, 2003, exactly seven months later, Fabolous dropped the mixtape “More Street Dream, Pt. 2: The Mixtape” through Elektra. The mixtape featured remixes and tracks not originally on “Street Dream”, and was also an outlet for his three-man crew, the Triangle Offense, which consisted of himself, Paul Cain, and Joe Budden.
In November 2004, Fabolous released “Real Talk,” his third full-length album. It featured collaborations with musicians such as Mike Shorey, Young Jeezy, and Pharrell. He was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2004 for his work on the “Dip It Low” remix with Christina Milian. Fabolous signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings in 2006 after being let out of his contract with Atlantic as part of a trade in which Def Jam sent their artist Musiq to Atlantic. “From Nothin’ to Somethin,” his first Def Jam album, was released in June 2007. For the first time in his career, it debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts. It also debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, and the RIAA certified it Gold in July 2007. “From Nothin’ to Somethin” featured collaborations with Lil Wayne, Remy ma, Swizz Beatz, and fellow Def Jam artist Ne-Yo.
“Loso’s Way,” Fabolous’ fifth studio album, was released in July 2009. It is based on the 1993 film “Carlito’s Way” and stars The-Dream, Jeremih, and Keri Hilson. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming his first album to do so. He then released the mixtape “There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service”, which was so popular it was then re-released as the EP “There is no Competition 2: The Grieving Music EP”. In addition, he released the mixtape projects “The S.O.U.L. Tape” in April 2011 and “There is No Competition 3: Death Comes in 3’s” in December 2011.
“The Young OG Project,” his long-awaited sixth album, was released in 2014. On the same day he announced the album’s release date, Roc Nation announced that he had signed a management contract with them. In its first week, “The Young OG Project” debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 71,000 copies. Fabolous and Jadakiss announced in 2016 that they were working on a joint project. “Friday on Elm Street,” their collaborative album, was released on November 24, 2017, and features artists such as Future and French Montana. He released his album “Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever” in 2019. It was the follow-up to his previous mixtapes, “Summertime Shootout” (2015) and “Summertime Shootout 2: The Level Up” (2016). (2016). Every single one of his official studio albums has charted on the Billboard 200 chart during his music career.
Net Worth
Fabolous stated in 2004 that he wanted to launch his own clothing line. In 2006, the line “Rich Yung Society” was introduced. In 2006, he also launched his own record label, Street Family Records. Artists on the label include Freck Billionaire, Paul Cain, Broadway, and Red Café. Fabulous is an American hip-hop recording artist with an estimated net worth of $8 million. He has six albums to his credit, with over three million copies sold in the United States.
