Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power

Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power
Studio album by Fabolous
Released	July 2015
Recorded	2009–present
Genre	Hip hop
Label	Desert Storm, Def Jam
Producer	David D.A. Doman, Hit-Boy, Mally, Mike WiLL Made It, The Monarch, No I.D., Omen, Pharrell Williams, The Runners, Ryan Leslie, T-Minus
Fabolous chronology
The Young OG Project (2014) Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power (2015)
Singles from Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power
"Ready" Released: January 17, 2013 "When I Feel Like It" Released: July 9, 2013

Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power is the upcoming seventh studio album by American rapper Fabolous. The album is scheduled to be released during 2015 by Desert Storm Records and Def Jam Recordings. The album is a sequel to his fifth studio album Loso's Way.^[1][2] Fabolous said he had worked with various artists such as Future, Chrisette Michelle, 2 Chainz, Trey Songz, Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, and John Legend among others on the album. The album was supported by two singles "Ready" featuring Chris Brown, which peaked at number 93 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and "When I Feel Like It" featuring 2 Chainz.

Background

In 2010 Fabolous announced that the subtitle to the album was Rise to Power as it describes his last year.^[3] In January 2013 Fabolous stated the album was 80–85% finished.^[4] When describing the feel of the album Fabolous said it will be the album that shows his most growth and evolution as an artist.^[5] He has said that Loso's Way 2 will be his most mature album to date.

"I feel like I'm evolving as an artist, as a man, as a father. Through evolving, I want to show that in the music, I want to talk about it," he said. "My fans have evolved and have grown and gotten older too, so I think we may not have the same issues, but we might have some of the same issues. We might be relatable in some of the things that we're going through now in an older state, so I want to talk about some of those things as well."^[6]

Recording and production

Fabolous stated in June 2011 that he would want to work with Nas, Eminem, Jadakiss & Rick Ross on the album.^[7] In an interview with Billboard Magazine in late January 2013 Fabolous said he had worked with Future, Chrisette Michelle, Trey Songz, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo, Young Jeezy and John Legend on the album.^[4] Fab also said he had talked to Nas about doing a collaboration for the album which they plan to complete in time for its release.^[8] In March 2013, during an interview Fabolous revealed he was trying to secure a feature from Kendrick Lamar. He has since confirmed that songs with Future, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, 2 Chainz Young Jeezy and Trey Songz will be featured on the album.^[9][10][11]

In May 2010 Fabolous stated that he had "About 12 beats so far, and was working with newer, young, hungry producers" such as Mally and Omen.^[12][12][13] Fabolous later indicated over the following months of having also been in the studio with or received beats from producers such as No I.D., Hit-Boy, T-Minus, Pharrell Williams, The Runners, Mike WiLL Made It, David D.A. Doman and Harry Fraud.^{[14][15][16][17]} In an August 2013 interview with The Source, Fabolous said he had recently been in the studio with frequent collaborator Ryan Leslie.^[18] On July 30, 2014, Fabolous said that had recorded another song for the album featuring Chris Brown and that he had a song in the works with Nicki Minaj.^[19]

Release and promotion

It was originally planned for the album to be released sometime in July or August 2010, and was later announced that it would be released on September 13, 2011.^[20] Fabolous announced that the subtitle to the album was Rise to Power as it describes his last year.^[3] The album has subsequently been pushed back over the years.^[21][22] In March 2013 Fabolous announced that the album would be released at the end of May 2013.^[9] Then on April 10, Fabolous announced the album's release date as June 18, 2013, via his appearance on BET's 106 & Park, also saying he was unsure if it would be ready by then.^[10][23] The album was later pushed back and scheduled for an August 2013 release.^[11][24] However it would then be pushed back again to an unknown date in 2014.^[25]

Fabolous released various mixtapes and EP's over the years to hold fans over while Loso's Way 2 was pushed back. These included, There Is No Competition 2: The Grieving Music EP on August 31, 2010 and There Is No Competition 3: Death Comes in 3s on December 25, 2011 to help promote the album.^[26] He also started a new mixtape series with, The S.O.U.L. Tape, which was released on April 22, 2011. The new series would feature Fabolous and his guests rapping over soul beats.^[27] On November 22, 2012 Fabolous released a second installment, The S.O.U.L. Tape 2.^{[28] [29]} Guests on the second instalment included Trey Songz, Pusha T, Cassie, J. Cole, Wale, Troy Ave and Joe Budden. The SOUL Tapes were inspired by his freestyle of "Devil in a New Dress" by Kanye West.^[30][31] Production came from Streetrunner, Teddy da Don, AraabMuzik and Cardiak among others.^[32] On December 25, 2013, Fabolous released The S.O.U.L. Tape 3 the third part of his S.O.U.L. Tape mixtape series.^[33] The mixtape featured guest appearances from Meek Mill, Young Jeezy, Jadakiss, Jeremih, Ryan Leslie, Mack Wilds among others, with production from Araab Muzik, Illmind, Vinylz, Boi-1da, and Ryan Leslie, among others.^[34]

During February and March 2013 Fabolous toured Europe with frequent collaborator Red Cafe on their Brooklyn's Finest Tour.^[35] Starting April 24, 2013 Fabolous and fellow Def Jam rapper Pusha T begun the Life is So Exciting Tour in Providence, Rhode Island. The tour featured 28 shows and ended on June 1, 2013. The tour was in promotion of Loso's Way 2 and Pusha T's debut studio album My Name Is My Name.^[36] In August, Fabolous announced four arena performances in the United Kingdom, which took place between September 7 and September 10, 2013.^[37]

Singles

On December 18, 2012 Fabolous released "So NY" to iTunes as the album's first promotional single.^[38] He released it as a "statement record" and does not know yet if it will make the album. He alliterated that the song is no way a diss to Lil Wayne. This was rumored due to the line "I'm so New York Weezy probably don't like me" which was due to Wayne's negative comments towards the city due to his 2011 prison sentence.^[39][40] The song would peak at number 15 on the US Billboard Bubbling Under Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[41]

On January 15, 2013, Fabolous announced the first official single from the album would be titled, "Ready" and features Chris Brown with production by The Runners and The Monarch.^[42][43] The single was released on January 17.^[44] The music video labeled a short film premiered on 106 & Park on April 10, 2013.^[45] The music video featured cameos from Kevin Hart and Jessica White.^[46] The song has since peaked at number 93 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[47]

The second official single "When I Feel Like It" featuring 2 Chainz, and produced by David D.A. Doman premiered in May 2013 and was then released for retail sale to iTunes on July 9, 2013.^[48] On July 24, 2013 Fabolous and 2 Chainz shot the music video for "When I Feel Like It" and five days later released the behind the scenes footage.^[49][50] The song has since peaked at number five on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.^[41] On September 11, 2013, the music video was released for "When I Feel Like It" featuring 2 Chainz.^[51]

On July 30, 2014 Fabolous announced that the lead single from the album would drop soon by the end of summer and would feature Chris Brown. He stated that "Ready" was just a warmup record for this song and that it would be very melodic.^[52]

References