Although the opening track, a spoken-word effort titled "Exodus," has the feel of a major statement, it's basically a canard, because Fabolous doesn't even deliver the material himself; a performer called Black Ice does the deed. Granted, the main man dominates the subsequent action, but his familiar flow can't enliven imagination-challenged material like "Gangsta" and "Ghetto." As for "In My Hood," Fabolous tries to up the drama quotient by importing a children's choir -- a ploy about as fresh as century-old doughnuts.
On the plus side, "Breath," currently on an airwave near you, uses a piano figure nicked from Supertramp's "Crime of the Century" to ultra-catchy effect, while "Tit 4 Tat" is a surefire followup, thanks to infectious production by the Neptunes. Unlike much of Real Talk, these cuts really are Fabolous.
