Yet, Fabolous realized that there was another level that he had not yet achieved and responded by bearing down and working harder. Rapping was a profession not a hobby for Fabolous and he buckled down while recording his sophomore disc, Street Dreams. Fortunately for Fabolous, his hard work paid off. Street Dreams reached the No. 3 spot on the album charts.

And considering how well his career is tracking, Fabolous definitely does not want to be looked upon in such a manner. He admits having leaked “Breathe,” the first single from his new album Real Talk, in order to gauge fan reaction. “We wanted to leak a record and make people see how they feel ­ like I said before, that’s not the type of record people are used to hearing as a single, so we wanted to leak it and see how people would respond to it and it ended up getting a great buzz so we decided to release it.”

He’s also started his own production company (Street Family Entertainment) and has signed two artists, Farrah Franklin (formerly of Destiny’s Child) and Mike Shorey, though it seems that Franklin will not end up recording for the label. Still, the laid-back rapper seems content with his enterprise. For now, he’ll focus on Shorey’s career development and continue to make his own music.