Fab 4ts is an upcoming artist who’s been gaining a lot of traction recently. With over 21,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, his debut album, The World From Eyes, has been at the helm of this success. With a chance at making a defining statement that will resonate with both fans and critics for a long time, will Fab 4ts prove he is a rising star?
Through ten tracks and about a half an hour of running time, Fab showcases his star potential in a messy but captivating performance. From the beat selection to the topical exploration, Fab shows his versatile skill set, which can play to sounds ranging from trap to lo-fi hip hop. While many beats are boring in this day and age tend to drag due to their boring design, Fab keeps listeners interested with a high-quality soundscape. From the intro “Immortial Deciusons” to grand closer “The Genesis,” nearly every track encompasses the use of trap drums and baselines but fuses them with memorable samples and intuitive chord patterns to keep the listener intrigued for the cuts entire duration. From a vocal standpoint, Fab 4ts has a solid foundation that needs some refining. His flow is always switching itself up, which adds to the excitement and unpredictability of what each second has to offer, but most times, his delivery feels too flat to bring a lot of moments into their full glory. While his monotone and passive vocals work on cuts like the challenging “SO.UN” and “Sirens,” tracks like “24 Karat” sound off due to the drastic difference in the sonic and vocal energy. Adding insult to injury, these vocals are generally poorly mixed, which can make them feel like they compete with the beats instead of working together as one entity. Fortunately, these flaws hardly derail the experience, as the emotional writing from Fab will make your heart sink into the bottom of your body. The scarring “American Heroin OD” was the record’s definite standout due to its pain-ridden narration about Fab’s grandpa and the PTSD he suffered from his time in the Vietnam War. Hearing Fab recollect on these memories and turn them into an emotional outburst is a skill some MCs never come close to honing for their entire career. Hearing Fab go down his mental rabbit hole was one of the best aspects of the whole LP, as his natural emotions and compelling fears captivated me to his character and backstory. Overall, his showing may not be perfect, but Fab shows he has what it takes to become a prominent figure in the rap game.
After diving into The World From My Eyes, I can definitely say it’s worth the listen for hip hop fans, new and old. Fab 4ts has loads of potential, and the outburst of emotion and talent poured throughout these ten tracks is enough to interest listeners for multiple listens. Going forward, Id only expects Fab to go up from here and if you are too, be sure to follow @_fab.4ts on Instagram!
Rating: 6.5/10
Written By: Mr. Fantastic
