''Loso's Way'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...

. The album was released on July 28, 2009, by

Desert Storm Records Desert Storm Records is an American record label founded by DJ and record producer DJ Clue?, record producer and music engineer Ken Duro Ifill, and DJ Clue?'s music manager Skane Dolla in 1998. The label was formerly distributed through Elektra ...

, Street Family Records and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

. The album's first two singles were released simultaneously on May 26, 2009: "

Throw It in the Bag Throwing is a physical action that consists of mechanically accelerating a projectile and then releasing it into a ballistic trajectory, usually with the aim of impacting a distant target. ''Throwing'' typically refers to hand-throwing by a ...

" (featuring

The-Dream Terius Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant ('' né'' Youngdell Nash; born September 20, 1977), known professionally as The-Dream, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for having written or co-produced songs for artists in ...

) and " My Time" (featuring

Jeremih Jeremy Phillip Felton (born July 17, 1987), known professionally as Jeremih ( ), is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He embarked on a musical career after meeting record producer Mick Schultz in 2008, and signed a recording contract wi ...

). Two other singles were subsequently released:

Everything, Everyday, Everywhere "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere" is a song by American rapper Fabolous, released by Def Jam Recordings on September 22, 2009 as the third single from his fifth album, '' Loso's Way'' (2009). It features guest appearances from American singers Ker ...

" (featuring

Keri Hilson Keri Lynn Hilson (born December 5, 1982) is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, she began her musical career as a songwriter and backing vocalist for other artists under the wing of record producer Anthony De ...

) and "Money Goes, Honey Stay" (featuring

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Background

A deluxe album was released on the same day as the standard release. The edition features a bonus DVD, (''Loso's Way'', the movie). The movie features Fabolous (and three of his friends). Fabolous is leaving a restaurant when he is shot. His friends quickly rush Fabolous to the hospital, but are stopped by the police after running a red light. Fellow rapper

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

has a role in the movie.

DJ Clue Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue (often stylized as DJ Clue?), is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Pana ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss (, ), is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed w ...

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

, DJ Envy, and

Ryan Leslie Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. Working predominantly in contemporary R&B and hip hop, he has released six studio albums and written songs for artists ...

make cameo appearances. The movie ''Loso's Way'' runs for 33:03 minutes. In order to view ''Loso's Way'' the movie, the deluxe album ''Loso's Way'' must be purchased.

Critical reception

''Loso's Way'' got a score of 66 out of 100 from

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

based on positive reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. Several critics pointed out that the album revealed Fabolous' lyrical strengths and weaknesses. Slava Kuperstein of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

gave the album a 3.5 out of five stars and stated that Loso's Way may be the first completely focused album Fabolous has ever dropped, and the results confirm what all the hype was for in the first place.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling over 99,000 copies in its first week. It became Fabolous' first and only album to top the chart.

Track listing

Sample credits * "The Way (Intro)" contains sample from "

Fly Me to the Moon "Fly Me to the Moon", originally titled "In Other Words", is a song written in 1954 by Bart Howard. The first recording of the song was made in 1954 by Kaye Ballard. Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra's 1964 version was closely associated with the Apo ...

", written by

Bart Howard Bart Howard (born Howard Joseph Gustafson, June 1, 1915 – February 21, 2004) was an American composer and songwriter, most notably of the jazz standard "Fly Me to the Moon", which has been performed by Kaye Ballard, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, ...

, and performed by

Leslie Uggams Leslie Marian Uggams (; born May 25, 1943) is an American actress and singer. After beginning her career as a child in the early 1950s, she garnered acclaim for her role in the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Hallelujah, Baby!'', winning a T ...

. * "Makin' Love" contains samples from " Brokenhearted", written by Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones, and performed by

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

. * "Pachanga" contains samples from "You Know How To Make Me Feel So Good", written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff, and performed by

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American soul and R&B vocal group. One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, the group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in ...

. It also contains interpolations from "The Message", written by Nasir Jones, Gordon Sumner, and Dominic Miller.

Personnel

* Mike "I.L.O." Aiello – keyboards (1) *

Chris Athens Chris Athens is an American mastering engineer from Stony Point, New York. He began his career at Sony Music Studios in New York in the mid-90s, where he worked until 1998, when he moved to Sterling Sound, where he worked for 13 years. He founded ...

– mastering * Steven Barlow – assistant engineer (11, 12), additional tracking and editing assistant (7) * Blackout – engineer (9) *

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Smith attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue a career in mus ...

– scratches (14) * Kevin "KC" Cossom – background vocals (2) * Juro "Mez" Davis – engineer (15) *

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

– mixing (7, 11, 12) * Supa Engineer DURO – mixing (1-6, 8-10, 13-16) * Casey Flynn – engineer (9) * Ed "Wolverine" Goodson – bass and guitar (16) * Christy Hall – production assistant (6) * Edd "Odd" Hartwell – assistant engineer (11) * Brandon "Bizzy" Hollemon – additional guitars (9) * John Horesco IV – engineer (11, 12), additional tracking and editing (7) * J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League – engineers (4) * Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton – engineer (7) * Keke and Amy – production coordination (8) * Danny Keyz – keyboards (3) * Ken "Duro" Ifill – engineer (1-16) *

DJ Khalil Khalil Abdul-Rahman Hazzard (born October 16, 1974), professionally known as DJ Khalil, is an American music producer and disc jockey, DJ from Los Angeles. The son of National Basketball Association, NBA player Walt Hazzard, he signed with rapp ...

– engineer (3), drum programming (3) * Rico Law – engineer (8) *

– engineer (5, 10), instrumentation (5, 10) * Mark Lewis – engineer (11) * Chris "TEK" O'Ryan – engineer (6) * Carlos Oyanedel – assistant mix engineer (7, 11, 12) * Anthony "Smash" Randolph – additional keyboards (1) * Lenesha Randolph – background vocals (16) * Zach Steele – assistant engineer (6, 13) * Syience – instrumentation (15) * Phil Tan – mixing (7, 11, 12) * Brian "B-LUV" Thomas – engineer (6) * Brian Turner – intro announcer (1) * Jeff "Supa Jeff" Villanueva – vocal engineer (2), additional Pro Tools engineering (2) * Finis "KY" White – engineer (8) * Doug Wilson – engineer (16), keyboards (16) * Eric Young – assistant engineer (12) * Jordan "DJ Swivel" Young – assistant engineer (1-16), assistant mix engineer (1-6, 8-10, 13-16)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Fabolous albums Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician) Albums produced by DJ Khalil Albums produced by Grind Music Albums produced by Jermaine Dupri Albums produced by J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League Albums produced by No I.D. Albums produced by Ryan Leslie Albums produced by the Runners Albums produced by Tricky Stewart 2000s concept albums Def Jam Recordings albums Hip-hop soundtracks