Since the early 2010s, Drake has become one of the most bankable rappers in history, with several No. 1 hit songs and platinum-certified records to his name. When the former Degrassi: The Next Generation star looks back on his career, he has New York-bred rapper Fabolous to thank.
Fabolous has been rapping since the 1990s
Fabolous was born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn in the 1980s and ’90s, the same neighborhood where future superstar rappers The Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z hailed from. He gained a reputation as a talented emcee, and eventually signed a record deal to begin recording his own music.
He released his debut album Ghetto Fabolous on September 11, 2001 — the same day Jay-Z released his seminal album The Blueprint. A few days earlier, on September 6, he told Hot104.com that becoming a rapper was never a part of his plans. “I was just trying to make some money, ya know? I got tired of being broke,” he said. “This was something where I could make some money. It just happened for me.”
Drake said he ‘wouldn’t be anywhere without’ Fabolous
Drake was first introduced to many households as Jimmy Brooks, the lovable character on the Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation. In the mid-2000s, he began working towards launching a music career. His 2009 mixtape So Far Gone became his breakout, as he released his debut studio album Thank Me Later the following year.
Since then, Drake has built a global empire worth upwards of $250 million, according to Wealthy Gorilla. Drake counts Fabolous among those who helped him get to where he is today.
“Wouldn’t be anywhere without this guy, real s***,” Drake captioned a photo of Fabolous on his Instagram Story, according to Complex. “[I] was really just taking in how much you influenced everything for me.”
Drake and Fabolous have collabed on songs before
The two rappers have worked together in the past. In 2009, Drake hopped on the remix for Fabolous and The-Dream’s “Throw It In the Bag” and Chris Brown’s “Deuces (Remix)” with André 3000, Kanye West, Rick Ross, and T.I. More recently, Fabolous has also flipped Drake’s “Champagne Poetry” from Certified Lover Boy and Jack Harlow’s Drake collab “Churchill Downs,” with his own versions titled “Reposado Poetry” and “Ups & Downs Freestyle.”
Rumors of bad blood between the two rappers broke out in 2014 following a controversial Drake interview with Rolling Stone, where he appeared to take shots at Fabolous’ lyrical abilities on Kanye West’s Yeezus album. They quickly buried the hatchet, with Fabolous telling MTV News that Drake apologized for what he said. “It’s over. It’s under the bridge,” he said. “I got a lot of respect for what Drake does and he’s expressed to me personally, so we move on from there.”
Drake’s career today
Fabolous has continued to release music throughout Drake’s career, with his most recent project being his 2019 album Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever as well as one-off singles “Say Less” with French Montana, “Rich Hustle” with Jim Jones, and “Bach to Bach” with Dave East released in 2022.
Drake remains a prolific rapper over a decade into his mainstream music career. In the span of just over a year, he released three full-length albums: 2021’s Certified Lover Boy and 2022’s Honestly, Nevermind and the collaborative album with 21 Savage, Her Loss.
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