Mixtape Review: Fabolous – There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service

The mixtape, which suffered numerous delays, finally dropped earlier this month.  I was definitely surprised and had already accepted not being able to hear it anytime soon!

It turns out the music was well worth the wait.  Fabolous acted out the mixtape artwork and laid to rest a good selection of beats.

Adding to the tape’s “last rights-feel” was DJ Drama, who decided to change his knickname from Barak O’Drama to DraMcCain for this project.  Regarding the switch, Drama explains how he’s “starting to feel like a Republican, giving out the death penalty and killin’ you niggas!”

However, moving away from the release date and theme of the project, we see the tape’s major downfall in it’s numerous weak guest verses.

Most of the artists featured on the tape simply couldn’t compete with Fab’s verses, and in the end, brought down the overall listening experience.  Freck Billionaire’s mediocre verse on ”Roger That” is one example.  Fabolous kills the beginning of the song, before handing it off to Freck, who fails to meet the heightened expectations.

Having said that, Fabolous’ impressive one-liners and word-plays had me listening through the entire tape to catch every word.  Here’s two of my favorite lines:

“They said try me? Bitch they must have told you wrong.  You’d rather fuck Magic with no Trojan on.” – “Suicide 2“

“I’m Jive records, I dump Clipse nigga.”  - “Exhibit F“

Those two quotes had me rewinding the track!  Below I’ve highlighted a few other standout moments from There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service:

Fabolous – The Wake (Intro)


“The Wake” serves as a great intro to the mixtape, as Fabolous explains the tape’s theme of burying the competition over the track’s strong beat.  Here’s a quick excerpt:

“My shorty tellin’ me, kill the competition boo,
And I be tellin’ her there is no competition 2, (niceee)
There is no competition too,
Its good to wake up, look in the mirror and the only competition’s you,
And even that nigga ain’t seein’ me,
My reflection have a hard time being me.”

After hearing those cocky lines, I knew we were in for a good ride through the graveyard with this one!

Fabolous – “I’m Raw”

Lyrically, “I’m Raw” may be the best track on the tape.  Loso drops a number of quotables over the heavy bass line with:

“It’s been a hectic year,
So I sit and get fried, call the weed electric chair.
But ya’ll on death row, one request left,
You lookin for your girl? Oh she just left,
Her and my Dick just became bff’s,
Then I threw her out like Jazzy J, E-F-F…
Nickname funeral, got that from this killer flow,
Everythings still a go, my pockets be extra fat,
Big money on deck like A-Rod’s next to bat…
If I’m the one to go at, nigga what’s stoppin ya?
Call my gun Nadia and I be finger poppin her,
Keep that bitch cumin like Blackah, Blackah,
Go to your head like a shot-a-vodka,
Rock a sick fit call a doctor, partna,
You’d think I had a Gucci deal, Wacka Flocka.”

That last line about Wacka Flocka was pretty hilarious.

Fabolous – For the Money” (Featuring Nicki Minaj)

Fabolous and Nicki Minaj did such a good job remaking Gucci Mane’s “Lemonade,” that I had to double check and see if the Bangladesh beat had been altered for this version!  It really sounds like a completely different song; I wish all artists would go this hard when freestyling over popular tracks.

Here’s Nicki’s impressive verse:

“I’m in a tricky little mood,
I truck these little dudes,
I tell em that I love them but I never really do,
See I like pretty shoes, and I like pretty minks,
And I like sightseeing the Pyramids and the Sphinx,
He cop Italian pieces so I do the fist pump,
And I can only push it if the trunk is in the front,
If the trunk is in the back then you gotta take it back,
You can hit me on the jet, iChat on the Mac,
See I am who I am Nicki-M-motherfucker,
If she say she not a fan, she a lying motherfucker,
Over shoppin’ in Paré, so I speak a little French,
Wee Wee Raggedy, time for you to hit the bench,
Indecisive, so I always gotta pick two,
I guess that’s why I got the Yorkie and the Shih Tzu,
I told Fab ‘get that Michael Knight Kit cool,
Before I put this pussy on your chipped tooth.”

That line about doing the “Italian fist pump” had me cracking up!  Nicki Minaj is steadily winning over more and more fans, and before you know it her debut album will turn a lot of haters into believers.

Stream all of There Is No Competition 2: The Funeral Service below: