Fabolous Drops ‘The Young OG Project’ Album – Today in Hip-Hop

On this day, Dec. 25, in hip-hop history...

2014: More than five years since the release of his previous studio album, Loso's Way, acclaimed Brooklyn, NY MC Fabolous dropped his sixth studio album, The Young OG Project, on Dec. 25, 2014, through Def Jam Records.

For a man who just a week prior, spit a 2-minute freestyle explaining how much he hates Christmas, throwing shots at Santa and any reindeer who wanted the smoke, Fabolous had a very eventful holiday season back in 2014. Immediately following the announcement that he was the most recent signee to the Roc Nation management team, Loso announced to the world in the beginning of December that the release of his next LP, The Young OG Project, would be on Christmas Day.

With production from the likes of Boi-1da, Vinylz and Phonix Beats among others, the album's sound is a blend of '90s-esque tempos and rhyme schemes with electronic, modern-type synths. Most of the LP's 11 tracks have guest features, including contributions from artists like Chris Brown, French Montana, Rich Homie Quan and comedian Kevin Hart. The Young OG Project's lead single, "Lituation," was produced by Mally the Martian, features a small vocal sample from Lauryn Hill and is packed with the type of punchlines the Brooklyn MC has become known for.

With mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, Fab's sixth LP had a good first week of sales and debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200. The project also reached a peak position of No. 3 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart.

In November of 2015, the "Uptown Vibes" rapper announced that he'd be dropping a follow-up to the album with The Young OG Project 2 on Christmas Day of that year, but eventually ended up putting that on hold. "I was supposed to drop The Young OG Project 2 on Christmas, but I needed some more clearance time. My samples weren't clearing in time," Fab said in a 2015 interview. "[Summertime Shootout] performed very well so I wanted to give it some room to breathe.

The Young OG Project is a solid effort from Fabolous, one of the game's most prominent MCs who has stood the test of time, maintaining his relevance by being able to adapt through multiple generations of hip-hop.

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