Fabolous Credits Drake For His Mixtape Game Return, "It Put The Fuel Back In Me"

New York rapper Fabolous has acknowledged that rap newcomer Drake inspired him to make a return to the ever-changing mixtape game.

Referencing his upcoming There Is No Competition 2 mixtape, Faboloso said artists like Drizzy and Lil Wayne reminded him there was still quality material being made on the underground circuit.

"I had stopped doing the mixtapes because I felt we lost that," he added. "Between DJs slopping together tapes just to make tapes and some artists really just putting two or three [new] songs together and a bunch of old songs and throwing a mixtape out. Certain DJs making unofficial tapes where they are just grabbing leaked stuff or taking stuff and putting it over other beats. I thought the game got saturated, but in '09 and recently at the top of '10, you seen Cam drop joints. Wayne dropped a joint, of course, Drake's mixtape being infamous for being one of the best ones for '09. It put the fuel back in me to do the mixtape thing. I was focused on a whole 'nother agenda. Just having so many shows took my mind off of it."
Last December, Fab explained how he felt mixtapes were not as influential as they once were.

"I guess it's particular artists that they attach to but I had felt even with the most high-class artists, people were getting so used to getting free music that the mixtape game wasn't that influential anymore," he said in an interview. "So when I seen what [Wayne's] No Ceilings did, it let me see that there's still definitely potential there, there's still that market there. I think for me it's definitely there because my albums tend to be a little more mainstream than my mixtapes."

Loso previously said the underground market needed an upgrade.

"That game is really saturated," Fab said in an interview about the mixtapes. "I feel like you really have to do something special now, but there's not really anything special you can do on a mixtape besides trying different things musically or with the way you distribute it...There's nothing special to me about a mixtape now...There's pretty much one coming out every five minutes. Right now, I think the dopest thing is to have a mixtape online--don't even have a hard disc, because even that's slowed down. When was the last time someone went somewhere and bought a hard copy of a mix CD? So maybe the next step is to release something digitally and tie it in with that."
Earlier this month, Fab said his upcoming There Is No Competition 2 mixtape could feature a guest spot from Jadakiss.

"In Vegas, gettin a cut from @mardabarber.. I'm at Prive 2nite.. #itsgoindown like ya head when u doze off!," he wrote via Twitter last week. "Had fun n Vegas, saw @therealkiss.. Says he got a verse 4 #TiNc2! Yall wouldn't b mad at a day hold up 4 a Jadakiss verse would yall? Now I'm on the plane headin to Maryland 2 perform at Maryland Eastern Shore Univ. 2nite.."
Check out Fabolous speaking on mixtapes below: