Fabolous fans may not see another S.O.U.L. Tape following the third offering in the popular series which was released a decade ago now — but he does have something new on the way.
On Saturday (October 28), the Brooklyn rapper sat down with HipHopDX at One Music Festival in Atlanta, where he was asked about the fan-favorite mixtape. Loso’s debut S.O.U.L. Tape arrived in 2011, followed by two sequels in 2012 and 2013 respectively. And apparently, those will be the last.
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“Everybody wants another S.O.U.L. Tape. I think S.O.U.L. Tapes for me were in a great time of where I was making that project and that music,” Fab told DX. “I think now, which we may be 10 years removed from the first S.O.U.L. Tape or something, I think you grow as a person. So even now it would be a different S.O.U.L. Tape.
“So I would rather just have its own entity instead of trying to connect 12 year older me to 12 year younger me. But there is a perspective in that. But I just think that the S.O.U.L. Tape can evolve instead of making Saw 7, Fast & Furious 23.”
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Instead, Fabolous will soon release a project called The Reload, which he’s been steadily working on since the pandemic.
“I’m working on a new project. It’s called The Reload,” he explained. “I’m actually trying to figure out when to be able to release it. Again, this project is stemming from places where I’m at now versus — I wanna say I’ve been working on it for a little while so it’s probably from around now to about 2019, 2020. So really with me working all through that time, I was able to give little pieces of myself in different times.
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“I think the last piece I had gave was the Summertime Shootout [3] in 2019 and that was kind of fresh off the pandemic, but the music was kind of before the pandemic, which was weird,” he continued. [Editor’s note: the pandemic did not actually begin until March 2020, but the tape was released in December 2019.]
He added: “You kind of make music sometimes – unless you JAY-Z and you just write that week and put the album out that week – but you kinda make music recapping your life. So that’s why that project didn’t really recap the COVID experience, but there’s some of it in this project too. I think a lot has changed in our lifestyles and music and everything since COVID.”
After explaining how he made some changes during that time, Fab explained why the project is named The Reload: “[The pandemic] really made you analyze certain things in life and in music and I think even through there, I’ve grown and people have grown and your fans continue to grow that’s why it’s kinda called The Reload because it’s kind of like, me reloaded kind of thing.”
Fans aren’t the only ones who miss the S.O.U.L. Tape series, as even Fabolous’ peers want him to make another offering. Earlier this year, Meek Mill pleaded with the “Into You” rapper to make another one after podcast host Lowkey tweeted that fans should give up on ever hearing another installment.
“Fab ain’t making another Soul Tape. Let’s just give up on that,” Low wrote, to which Meek replied, “Fabbbbbbbbbbbbbb.”
Since Summertime Shootout 3, Fab’s output has been minimal, but he did drop two new songs last August when he was challenged by Hot 97’s Funk Flex to drop new music.
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He then followed it up with a series of loosies including the Hitmaka-produced “Rich Hustle” with Jim Jones, his “Ups & Downs” vacation freestyle using Jack Harlow and Drake’s “Churchill Downs” beat, and in September, he joined forces with Dave East for his “Back To Bach” freestyle, which samples Loose Ends’ classic 1985 record “You Can’t Stop the Rain.”
