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Fat Joe is one of the few Hip-Hop artists from the early 90s who’s still been able to keep himself relevant in 2022, and for that he deserves all the flowers in the Bronx Botanical Garden.
Now with his memoir, The Book of Jose about to hit shelves next month, Joey Crack swung by The Breakfast Club to talk about his childhood, career, and controversies he’s stirred up as of late. From revealing how things went sour with his Boricua breathren, Daddy Yankee to explaining his use of the “N-word,” Fat Joe continues to be the open book that he’s basically been his entire career, and we’re all here for it.
Here are the 7 things we learned from Fat Joe on The Breakfast Club.
His relationship with Daddy Yankee
Fat Joe says that before he became the king of reggaeton, Daddy Yankee used to hang out with Fat Joe in New York and Puerto Rico and they were cool for years. But once Daddy Yankee blew up with “Gasolina,” Joe says he ran into him and Daddy Yankee turned his back to him as if “he didn’t know me.” They’re cool again but Joe says it’s not the same.
His accountants were playing on his headtop
Talking about his accountants, Fat Joe says that his accountants were stealing his money and opening credit cards in his and his wife’s name on the low. Running the same game that his previous accountant ran which landed him in jail, Joe says he only found out when mortgage companies called him telling him he missed payments on property he never purchased and was paying baseball player’s bills as well.
His comments about PnB’s murder
Clarifying his comments about the PnB Rock incident, Fat Joe says that when he said people should rob but not kill their victims, he was “talking to the guys that are sticking people up,” and not civilians who don’t understand the mentality of a goon. Many people took offense to that notion, but if you aren’t a wolf out on these streets or run with a pack, you wouldn’t understand what he was trying to say. We did though.
Rappers and celebrities being targeted
Pertaining to the increase of rappers and celebrities being targeted out in these streets, Joe says that even DJ Khaled would remain home more than not. “I used to look at Khaled like ‘Is there something wrong with you? Are you depressed?’” But now Joe understands as he’s even begun to stay at home as well in light of everything that’s been going on as of late.
His thoughts on Irv Gotti & Ashanti
Though he criticized Irv Gotti for the whole Ashanti situation, Fat Joe says he still loves Irv Gotti and once even canceled a show to go to his mother’s birthday party. “He helped me at a time when nobody wanted to help me and I’ll never forget that.” Still, he says he’ll stand up for his “sister’s” in the industry if he feels they’ve been disrespected regardless of who might’ve crossed that line. Can’t be mad at that.
His use of the n-word
Touching on the whole “N-word” controversy that follows him every few years, Joe explains that he grew up in the projects where the majority were Black people who would call him “ni**a” throughout his childhood which made him feel like he was Black too. Most Latinos who grow up in the hood especially in New York use the word, so it’s become a part of that Hip-Hop culture of NYC that many out of towners wouldn’t understand. Still though, Joe says he tries not to use it to prevent anyone from being offended but it’s too engrained in his vocabulary at this point. Heck, even the Honorable Minister Farrakhan addressed him as “Black Man” when he greets him.
How he was treated by police back in the day
Fat Joe reveals that police used to beat him up back in the day and even stuck him in the dumpster, but he had to hold that L because, well, who was going up against the police back in the day. It was a no-win situation. Lowkey still is.
You can check out Fat Joe’s interview on The Breakfast Club below.
