Ghetto Fabolous


Ghetto Fabolous is the debut studio album by American rapper Fabolous. The album was released on September 11, 2001, received mixed critical reviews, and was a commercial success. It reached number 4 on the US Billboard 200 with 143,180 copies sold and had three singles, which were all Rhythmic Top 40 and Billboard Hot 100 hits. The first of those singles is "Can't Deny It", produced by Rick Rock, and features a chorus by Nate Dogg that alters lyrics from 2Pac's "Ambitionz Az a Ridah". It reached number 25. The other charting singles are "Young'n ", produced by The Neptunes, and "Trade It All", featuring vocals from Jagged Edge and produced by DJ Clue and Duro. It reached number 20, becoming the highest-charting single from the album. All three singles had supporting music videos.
It sold over 1.05 million copies by 2003 as Billboard has reported and it was certified Platinum on February 6, 2003, by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone writer Kris Ex noted how the album contained "by-the-numbers danceable bounces" and "predictable thug rhyme themes" throughout the track listing but said that, "Ghetto Fabolous is the most entertaining argument for hip-hop excess to come along in a while, due to Fab's ability to add lyrical twists and turns to the genre." DeMarco Williams of HipHopDX gave praise to Fabolous' "dynamic presence" and "rhyming skills" being reminiscent of Jay-Z and Jadakiss, concluding that "if you can get over the fact that his tracks have no heart, it's well worth a cop." Entertainment Weekly writer Craig Seymour commended Fab's "Mase-like flow" on "Keepin' It Gangsta" and "Can't Deny It" but found it "too one-dimensional" to elevate the rest of the track listing, saying "this hip-hop newcomer doesn't live up to his deliberately misspelled moniker." Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews highlighted the contributions from Timbaland, Rick Rock and DJ Envy as being "energetic and listenable" but felt that Fabolous was "vexing" as an artist for having a dated grab bag of references and DJ Clue lacking quality beats outside of "Trade It All" and "Ride for This", concluding that, "he shame of this album is that by failing to make a huge dent, Fabolous ends up being lumped in with similar rappers like Jadakiss and Ma$e instead of dropping an industry bomb worthy of his star-studded name."

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications