Will Fabolous Finally Release <i>Loso’s Way 2</i> This Summer?

It’s been almost five years, and now the wait for Loso’s Way 2 may finally be coming to an end.

“A record label has its processes, so you got to work at that,” Fabolous told RealTalkNY of his upcoming sixth solo album, set to release on Def Jam. “I’m looking towards a summer release. It’s good that I put the mixtape out because I wanted to tighten a couple of screws on the album and put the mixtape out while I did that. I used that to build some energy.”

The mixtape he’s referring to is The S.O.U.L. Tape 3, which dropped on Christmas. He’s released multiple videos to support the project, including “Young OG,” which hit the Net last week.

The third installment in The S.O.U.L. Tape series marked the Brooklyn rapper’s fifth mixtape release since his last album, Loso’s Way, hit stores in July 2009. Loso’s Way 2 was first announced back in late 2009, with a proposed summer 2010 release. The freebies in the meantime have been crucial in Fab maintaining his musical relevance.

In 2012, he said that listeners would hear his development on the album. “This one is really growth and evolution,” he told MTV News. “I think people know what I do — they know I’ve been in the game for a minute, but you gotta continuously show that growth and show that you’re bringing something. It’s the same thing, it’s the same steps over and over again, but you gotta make it look new. It’s not a rush. If you want something of good quality, you gotta take your time with it.”

In 2013, the MC released two singles — “Ready,” featuring Chris Brown, and “When I Feel Like It,” featuring 2 Chainz — to help gain momentum. Now, with the recent mixtape and the purported progress he’s made on the album, the timing may finally be right.

“I think the energy has been built,” he continued in the recent interview. “I think people have been waiting, but I feel like I can’t give ’em something that I don’t feel is right. So I always make sure that I’m completely, 100 percent comfortable with the product that I’m putting out before I do. And I think this summer we’ll have that time.”