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Real Talk

 
Album Review: Real Talk
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Real Talk

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  • Artist: Fabolous
  • Rating: StarStar
  • Release Date: November 09, 2004
  • Type: Contains explicit content, Lyrics are included with the album
  • Genre: Rap

Review

It was entirely possible that the first single from the third Fabolous album would be a club track or a soft-styled pop-oriented number aimed at the female audience. "Breathe" is nothing like that, the roughest chart hit of Fabolous' career. All grit, no gloss -- Just Blaze works a chest-cracking break, a needling piano run from '70s art rockers Supertramp, and a doctored vocal sample (top that, Kanye West). Whatever flashes of high promise Fabolous hinted at before are fulfilled and then some, his slithery voice intensified and commanding like never before. Two lines into the first verse, the track shows all the necessary signs of being a hip-hop classic -- one that fills all other MCs with envy while sucking the energy out of every other maximum-rotation radio hit. "Breathe" has the same dwarfing effect on the rest of Real Talk, and noticing its 13-spot placement on the album does nothing but raise the false expectations of first-time listeners. On most other releases, "Breathe" would be slotted second or third, not nearly so deep and de-emphasized. Tucking it near the end turns out to be a smart move, because an early role in the track order would've given the album a quick drop-off. Throughout, Fabolous once again spreads himself too thin. He's versatile, sure -- he is capable of branching out to several styles, but this overvalued trait is traded for a steep cost. Erratic and neither convincing nor satisfying from track to track, the album strolls through another mixed bag of satisfactory-to-strong crossovers, factoring in the South, the West, the silky, the grainy, the laid-back, and the amped-up. A pile of producers weigh in, including the Neptunes (who go one-for-two), Scott Storch (ditto), Trackmasters, Flame Throwers, and a handful of relative newcomers. There's enough quality material to help fill out a Fabolous best-of, but the touch-all-bases formula inhibits the album's potential of being any better than Ghetto Fabolous or Street Dreams. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track TitleComposersPerformersTime
Exodus Fabolous (1:25)
Don't Stop Wont Stop John Jackson Fabolous (3:37)
Real Talk (123) John Jackson Fabolous (4:26)
Gangsta John Jackson Fabolous (3:42)
Tit 4 Tat (Lyrics) John Jackson Pharrell Williams, Fabolous (4:38)
Baby John Jackson Fabolous, Mike Shorey (4:55)
Girls (Lyrics) John Jackson, S. Barnes Fabolous (3:41)
Church John Jackson, C.M. Murphy Charlie Murphy, Fabolous (4:55)
Can You Hear Me John Jackson, J.C. Lopez Fabolous (4:57)
Do the Damn Thang (Lyrics) John Jackson Fabolous, Young Jeezy (4:23)
Holla at Somebody Real (Lyrics) John Jackson Fabolous (3:47)
It's Alright (Lyrics) John Jackson, Justin Smith Fabolous, Sean Paul (3:45)
Breathe (Lyrics) John Jackson Fabolous (4:28)
Young & Sexy John Jackson Pharrell Williams, Fabolous, Mike Shorey (4:18)
Round & Round (Lyrics) John Jackson Fabolous (3:40)
In My Hood (Lyrics) John Jackson Fabolous (5:19)
Ghetto John Jackson Shams Tharani, Fabolous (4:16)
Po Po John Jackson, Paul Cain Nate Dogg, Fabolous, Paul Cain (4:39)

Credits

Scott Jacoby (Keyboards), Gerard Harmon (Producer), Scott Storch (Producer), Ken Ifill (Executive Producer), Chris Athens (Mastering), Jonathan Mannion (Photography), Michael Goldberg (A&R), Reefa (Producer), Paul Gregory (Engineer), Just Blaze (Producer), John Bender (Assistant Engineer), Robert Larow (Keyboards), Jeremy Skaller (Keyboards), Jeremy Skaller (Vocal Producer), Fabolous (Executive Producer), Anita Marisa Boriboon (Art Direction), Anita Marisa Boriboon (Design), Roberto Fantauzzi (Producer), Clue (Executive Producer), James Lopez (Product Manager), Crystal Streets (Stylist), Skane (Executive Producer), Keith Wilkins (Producer), DJ Khaled (Producer), Javonn "JV" Alexander (Producer), Javonn "JV" Alexander (Instrumentation), David Brown (Mixing Assistant)
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Wikipedia: Real Talk (Fabolous album)
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Real Talk
Studio album by Fabolous
Released November 9, 2004 (2004-11-09)
Genre East Coast hip hop, hip hop
Label Desert Storm Records/Atlantic Records
Producer DJ Khaled, The Neptunes, Trackmasters, J. R. Rotem, Just Blaze, Scott Storch, JV, Hotrunner, Flame Throwers, Gerard Harmon, Keith Wilkins, Reefa, Dangerous
Professional reviews
Fabolous chronology
Street Dreams
(2003)		 Real Talk
(2004)		 From Nothin' to Somethin'
(2007)

Real Talk is the third album by East Coast hip hop artist Fabolous. It was received lukewarm from a critical standpoint, but was a minor commercial success. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard 200 with 179,000 copies sold in one week and had two charting singles. The two charting singles are "Breathe" which is produced by Just Blaze and "Baby" which is produced by Flame Throwers and contains guest vocals from Mike Shorey. Videos were created for the singles "Do the Damn Thing" featuring Young Jeezy, which received minor airplay on BET, and "Tit 4 Tat" featuring Pharrell, which includes a portion of the album track "Round and Round."

It sold over 550,000 copies according to Billboard[1], being originally certified gold by RIAA on December 13, 2004.[2]

Track listing

# Title Songwriters Producer(s) Feature(s) Length
1 "Exodus" Black Ice 1:25
2 "Don't Stop Won't Stop" J. Jackson, J. Alexander JV 3:37
3 "Real Talk (123)" J. Jackson, D. Murchinson, T. Lovelace Hotrunner 4:26
4 "Gangsta" J. Jackson, K. Khaled DJ Khaled 3:42
5 "Tit 4 Tat" J. Jackson, P. Williams The Neptunes Pharrell 4:38
6 "Baby" J. Jackson, D. Thornton Flame Throwers Mike Shorey 4:55
7 "Girls" J. Jackson, S. Barnes, J.C. Olivier Trackmasters 3:41
8 "Church" J. Jackson, G. Harmon, K. Wilkins, C. Murphy Gerard Harmon, Keith Wilkins Charlie Murphy 4:55
9 "Can You Hear Me" J. Jackson, J. Rotem, J. Lopez J. R. Rotem 4:57
10 "Do the Damn Thang" J. Jackson, J. Jenkins, S. Slater Reefa Young Jeezy 4:23
11 "Holla At Somebody Real" J. Jackson, J. Jenkins, S. Slater Reefa Lil' Mo 3:47
12 "It's Alright" J. Jackson, J. Smith Just Blaze Sean Paul 3:45
13 "Breathe" J. Jackson, J. Smith Just Blaze 4:28
14 "Young & Sexy" J. Jackson, P. Williams The Neptunes Mike Shorey & Pharrell 4:18
15 "Round and Round" J. Jackson, S. Storch Scott Storch 3:40
16 "In My Hood" J. Jackson, H. Campbell, T. Crawford, P. Pitts Dangerous 5:19
17 "Ghetto" J. Jackson, S. Storch Scott Storch Thara 4:16
18 "Po Po" J. Jackson, K. Pratt, P. Cain, J. Rotem J. R. Rotem Nate Dogg & Paul Cain 4:39

Chart positions

Chart (2004) Peak
position
Dutch Top 100 Album Chart[3] 66
French Albums Chart[3] 119
UK Albums Chart[3] 66
U.S. Billboard 200[4] 6
U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[5] 2

References

  1. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003545081
  2. ^ http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/search_results.asp
  3. ^ a b c Fabolous - Real Talk - Music αCharts. Accessed August 15, 2008.
  4. ^ The Billboard 200 - Real Talk - Fabolous Billboard. Accessed August 15, 2008.
  5. ^ Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - Real Talk - Fabolous Billboard. Accessed August 15, 2008.


v • d • e
Fabolous
Albums
Singles
"Can't Deny It" · "Young'n (Holla Back)" · "This Is My Party" · "Can't Let You Go" · "Into You" · "Make U Mine" · "Breathe" · "Tit 4 Tat" · "Baby" · "Diamonds" · "Return of the Hustle" · "Make Me Better" · "Baby Don't Go" · "Throw It in the Bag" · "My Time" · "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere"
Featured singles
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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