''The Young OG Project'' is the sixth studio album by American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition while still a senior in high school, when he performed live on American music executive ...

; it was released on December 25, 2014, by

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 ...

Desert Storm Records Desert Storm Records is an American record label founded by Skane Dolla, Ken Duro Ifill, and DJ Clue? in 1997. The label was formerly distributed through Elektra and Atlantic and is currently distributed through Def Jam and Universal. Desertstorm ...

and Street Family Records. The album features guest appearances from

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to ''Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempor ...

, Velous,

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

, Tish Hyman and more. It also includes production from

Vinylz Anderson Hernandez (born September 2, 1989),Rys, Dan (July 11, 2013)"‘Magna Carta Holy Grail’ Behind The Scenes: Five Producers Who Helped Craft The Album". '' XXL''. Accessed on July 11, 2013. professionally known as Vinylz, is an American ...

Boi-1da Matthew Jehu Samuels (born October 12, 1986), known professionally as Boi-1da ( , a play on "boy wonder"), is a Jamaican-Canadian record producer and songwriter based in Toronto, Ontario. The Toronto raised producer has worked with a variety o ...

, C-Sick and The Mekanics, among others. The album is supported by the lone single, "Lituation".

Background

Fabolous said that the album would be "very '90s-inspired and '90s-themed". "I was introduced to hip-hop in the '80s, but the '90s is when it flourished and you saw different people, different styles and different regions emerge it was a very diverse and versatile time and that's another reason why it sticks to me," he told

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. He said that the whole goal for the album was about his perspective of the '90's, where he came from and where he is today. He also said that it could bring back memories of the guys who really lived in it and it could influence the people who didn't live in it, they could also go in the vibe of it or look up the songs where it came from.

Critical response

''The Young OG Project'' received positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

. Andrew Gretchko of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

said, "It’s an album filled with features – Rich Homie Quan, Chris Brown, French Montana and even Kevin Hart – and beats that are a mix of the wavy, electronic sounds so prevalent today and the anthemic rhythms of ‘90s-style tracks, each with plenty of bass to back the lyrics. With intros delivered by The Notorious B.I.G. and even a sampling of Drake’s “Fancy” flow, ''The Young OG Project'' has tracks for fans of the many subgenres of Hip Hop, from ‘90s beats to both commercial and street hooks. And while Fabolous may not excel on all of the album’s bouncier tracks the way he does over the laid back beats, his Christmas present to the world hits the right notes." David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

said, "While 2014 was supposed to see the sequel to Fabolous' 2009 release Losos Way, the album The Young OG Project landed instead, celebrating the rapper's love of '90s hip-hop. As such, old-school act

Brand Nubian Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees ( Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar), and formerly three DJs (DJ Alamo, DJ Sincere, and DJ Stud Doogie). Their debut studio album, '' One for All ...

get a righteous tribute with the opening "Lituation," but it takes until track three for the sound of the decade to power the aptly titled "All Good," while later, "Bish Bounce" bumps like Das EFX in their prime. Otherwise, the 1990s influence is less palpable as cloud rap beats ("We Good" floats, stutters, and dissolves) and an appearance from comedian

Kevin Hart Kevin Darnell Hart (born July 6, 1979) is an American comedian and actor. Originally known as a stand-up comedian, he has since starred in Hollywood films and on TV. He has also released several well-received comedy albums. After winning s ...

(during the Digable Planets-ish highlight "Cinnamon Apple") make this an album for the 2014–2015 season, while guest appearances from

Rich Homie Quan Dequantes Lamar (born October 4, 1989), known professionally as Rich Homie Quan, is an American rapper. He was previously signed to labels T.I.G. Entertainment and Motown, and is an independent artist as of 2021. Quan experienced commercial suc ...

, and

are as populist as they are contemporary. Still, Fabolous is invigorated by this slight slide into the past, and offers up numerous highlights (including the not-yet-mentioned "Ball Drop," a great New Year's Eve cut where everything is renewed) with a strong second line in support.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number 12 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 71,000 copies in the United States. In its second week, the album dropped to number 20 on the chart, selling 25,000 copies, bringing its total album sales to 96,000 copies.

Track listing

;Sample credits *"All Good" contains samples of " Juicy" as performed by The Notorious B.I.G., "Slow Motion" as performed by Juvenile featuring

Soulja Slim James Adarryl Tapp Jr. (September 9, 1977 – November 26, 2003), better known by his stage name Soulja Slim, was an American rapper and songwriter. He is perhaps best known for featuring on the U.S. number one hit "Slow Motion". Early life Jam ...

, and "I Think I've Got A Good Chance Pt. 2" by

J.J. Barnes James Jay Barnes (November 30, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American R&B singer and songwriter. Biography He recorded several singles, starting in 1960. His early releases including "Just One More Time" and "Please Let Me In", on the re ...

. *"Gone For The Winter" contains a sample of "Thief of Bagdad" as performed by Lee Erwin. *"She Wildin'" contains a sample of " Oochie Wally" as performed by Nas &

Bravehearts Bravehearts are an East Coast hip hop group from New York, New York. The group's roster originally included Jungle (born Jabari Jones, son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, and younger brother of hip hop star Nas), Wiz (born Mike Epps), and Horse (bo ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from

. *Thomas Bangalter - Composer *Darius Barnes - Composer *Jimmy Barnes - Composer *Diane Bernstein - Composer *Dwight Brandon - Composer *Chris Brown - Composer, Primary Artist *Johnathan Burks - Composer *Keith Carter - Composer *Shawn Carter - Composer *Avery Chambliss - Composer *Evans J. Clark - Composer *Sean Combs - Composer *Ted Creech - Composer *Kaseem Dean - Composer *Mike Dean - Composer *Charles Dumazer - Composer *Michael Epps - Composer *Lee Erwin - Composer *Jared Evans - Composer *Fabolous - Primary Artist *French Montana - Primary Artist *Aubrey "Drake" Graham - Composer *Abir Haronni - Composer, Primary Artist *Clifford Harris - Composer *Kevin Hart - Primary Artist *Mark Henry - Composer *Anderson Hernandez - Composer *Michael Hernandez - Composer *Christo Homem - Composer *Tish Hyman - Primary Artist *Detric Jamal Jackson - Composer *John Jackson - Composer *Ahmad Jackson - Composer *Aubry Johnson - Composer *Jabari Jones - Composer *Malik Yusef Jones - Composer *Nasir Jones - Composer *Chris Justice - Composer *Karim Kharbouch - Composer *Dequantes Devontay Lamar - Composer *Didier Malherbe - Composer *Ted Mills - Composer *Alberto Moreno - Composer *Timothy Mosley - Composer *James Mtume - Composer *William Neale - Composer *Eugene O'Grey - Composer *Jean Claude "Poke" Oliver - Composer *Lamont Porter - Composer *Rich Homie Quan - Primary Artist *Javon Reynolds - Composer *Sidney Reynolds - Composer *Terrell Roberts - Composer *Elon Rutberg - Composer *Matthew Samuels - Composer *Noah Shebib - Composer *Che Smith - Composer *Velous - Primary Artist *Christopher Wallace - Composer *Derek Watkins - Composer *Hermon Weems - Composer *Kanye West - Composer *Jesse Woodard - Composer *Ozan Yildirim - Composer *Cydel Young - Composer *Henry Zant - Composer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young OG Project, The 2014 albums Fabolous albums Def Jam Recordings albums Albums produced by Boi-1da Albums produced by C-Sick Albums produced by Vinylz