Fabolous scored his first Top 40 pop hit, "Can't Deny It," right out of the gate in 2001, instantly establishing himself as a rising East Coast rap star with a combination of street-savvy toughness and crossover appeal. The Brooklyn rapper was one of the first East Coast MCs to embrace the bling mentality of the South as well as the gangsta swagger of the West Coast, all the while incorporating a subtle undercurrent of pop into his music.