вЂњJust in case yвЂ™all was lost, IвЂ™m the face in the sauce/Long Cuban, white ice, placed in the cross,вЂќ raps Jackson on the opening line, an introduction to his smooth wordplay and blase delivery. Clue dropped the beat for The LoxвЂ™s вЂњMoney, Power, and Respect,вЂќ and suddenly, the typically quiet and reserved Jackson erupted. After a commercial break, Clue told Jackson and Noreaga they were going to freestyle live on Hot 97вЂ™s airwaves.

When Jackson arrived, Clue was fumbling around the radio stationвЂ™s headquarters and told Jackson to wait in the studio with Noreaga, who at the time was one of New YorkвЂ™s hottest rappers. In 1998, the New York rap dream was simple: secure a record deal and get a song played on Hot 97. But that day, he would leave Hot 97 with a rap name and the support of hip-hopвЂ™s most influential DJ. In 1998, Jackson, at this point a high school senior who had yet to even form an official rap pseudonym, pulled up to Hot 97 with an Avirex jacket draped over his lanky frame, expecting nothing more than a typical sit-down meeting. вЂњYou should check him out.вЂќ Clue invited Jackson to meet him at Hot 97. вЂњYo, I heard some stuff from this kid, he sounds aight,вЂќ Skane said to Clue. Webb played the demo for ClueвЂ™s partner and manager, Rich Skane. Kevin Webb had known DJ Clue from parties he used to throw-Webb would secure the venue, Clue would DJ. The success led to Hot 97 recruiting DJ Clue for his own show on the station, вЂњMonday Night Mixtapes.вЂќ Clue chose two records that would become timeless: вЂњHypnotizeвЂќ and вЂњMoвЂ™ Money MoвЂ™ Problems.вЂќ Hot 97, New YorkвЂ™s premier radio station, desperately wanted access to the pair of Life After Death songs so they began to spin the records with ClueвЂ™s DJ tags still attached. But by the time 1997 rolled around, ClueвЂ™s platform was so powerful-from the clubs to the streets-that Diddy invited him to get an advance listen of BiggieвЂ™s Life After Death and choose any two songs to include on a mixtape. Often his tapes would include songs acquired without permission, like the time he ignited a beef with Bad Boy Records after leaking a track from Ready to Die and Biggie traveled to the Bronx with a gun in search of Clue. Coated with his signature DJ drops, Clue Tapes were launching pads for iconic New York rap records of the вЂ™90s from Method Man to JAY-Z to Biggie. His mixtapes, known as Clue Tapes, were essentially curated playlists and goldmines for everything New York hip-hop. In the 1990s, after landing an internship at RCA, Clue began to get access to unreleased exclusives. Together, they recorded a proper demo, and Webb made a promise that he could get JacksonвЂ™s music to the ears of a DJ who was breaking hits in New York like a one-man WorldStarHipHop.ДJ Clue, raised in Jamaica, Queens, was a pioneer of the rap mixtape.

He wanted to have that effect.ДЄfter a few small-time recordings, Jackson laid down a verse on a local producerвЂ™s flip of Puff DaddyвЂ™s вЂњItвЂ™s All About the Benjamins.вЂќ The track became a neighborhood hit and eventually, the word spread to Queens-born party promoter and manager Kevin Webb. But even as he traveled to the city, he couldnвЂ™t help but notice rapвЂ™s impact around him-it was the soundtrack of neighborhood fish fries and basketball games, and he would hear about hip-hop duo Smif-N-Wessun outside like local celebrities. In high school, before he was known as Fabolous, and before his debut album was released on September 11, 2001, the kid born John Jackson would draw at an art and design school in Midtown Manhattan, another world. One of the first rappers he became enamored with was Big Daddy Kane, his swag was undeniable-the chains, the high-top fade, Madonna-and everyone in the neighborhood had a story about Biggie Smalls and LilвЂ™ Kim. Throughout his childhood, he watched hip-hop blossom in Brooklyn, from the sound of the underground to something he couldnвЂ™t walk out of his home without hearing. There, his personality developed: skeptical, quiet, unbothered, the type to stand around the freestyle circle but never contribute a verse himself. Everything Fabolous knew could be found in blocks encompassed by the Brevoort Houses in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn.

Fabolous albums