Fabolous has been releasing music for over ten years, and he has just as many top ten singles to his name, including the undeniable smashes “Breathe,” “Make Me Better,” and “Young’n (Holla Back).” Fab has enough big songs to go toe-to-toe with most active veteran rappers, but over a career that spans five albums and seven mixtapes, he has yet to release a classic full project. Think about it: if you had to make a list of the greatest active rappers, would Fab make your top five? What about top ten? Probably not. And until he drops a front-to-back classic, Fabolous probably will never get that level of respect. Maybe that also has something to do with the fact that he tried to make wearing a bandanna on top of your hat happen (joke credit: Chayne Japal).

That’s not to say that Fabolous doesn’t have talent; there’s a reason he has so many hits in his repertoire. On The Soul Tape 2, Fab showcases the laid-back flow he’s known for, with punchlines aplenty laid-out neatly over soul-sampling beats. This tape is worth checking out for the features alone, with the Brooklyn emcee welcoming J. Cole, Wale, Pusha T, Trey Songz, Cassie, and Teyana Taylor as guests on beats from StreetRunner, araabMUZIK, Cardiak, and more. Fab’s lack of energy means he’s occasionally overshadowed by his pals, but the level of personnel involved definitely speaks to the overall quality of the mixtape.

The Soul Tape 2 is worth your time, but it’s far from perfect. Hopefully Fab still has a career-making classic project up his sleeve, otherwise his eventual Greatest Hits compilation might be the closest he’ll come.

DOWNLOAD THE SOUL TAPE 2