UG Rap Community

Biography by Greg Prato
Latino rapper Fat Joe (aka Fat Joe da Gangsta, Joey Crack, and his real name, Joe Cartagena) was raised in the South Bronx area of New York. It was through an older brother that Cartagena learned the ways of the street, as well as discovering rap music via the sounds of such groundbreaking artists as Theodore, Funky 4 + 1, and the Furious Five. Eventually going by the name of Fat Joe, the rapper secured a recording contract with the Relativity label in the early '90s, resulting in the release of his full-length debut, Represent, in 1993 (which spawned the single "Flow Joe," peaking at the number one spot on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart). Two years later, Fat Joe issued his sophomore effort, Jealous One's Envy, which included a cameo appearance by KRS-One as well as production contributions by the likes of DJ Premier, L.E.S., and Domingo. Around the same time, Fat Joe appeared on LL Cool J's big hit "I Shot Ya" (along with Foxy Brown and Keith Murray) and collaborated with Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon on a track from the "Envy" single, called "Firewater." By the late '90s, Fat Joe had switched record labels (signing on with Atlantic) and tried his hand at other non-musical career ventures such as opening a clothing store called Fat Joe's Halftime, a barber shop, and a fashion line, FJ560. In addition, he signed a production and distribution deal with Atlantic Records and Mystic Entertainment (which he ran with a partner named Big Greg). 1998 saw the release of Fat Joe's debut for Atlantic, Don Cartagena, which featured cameo appearances by the likes of Puff Daddy, Nas, Raekwon, Big Pun, and Jadakiss (the LOX), following it up in 2001 with Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.), which included contributions from Ludacris, Petey Pablo, M.O.P., R. Kelly, and Remy. Loyalty followed in 2002, and All or Nothing arrived three years after that. The raw Me, Myself and I from 2006 found the rapper on his own Terror Squad imprint, which was distributed by EMI.

Habe die ersten beiden Alben gerne gehört, mit dem dritten ging es schon bergab. Kann ich mir auch gar nicht mehr geben, mittlerweile hat er doch auch so Down-South Beats auf seinen Alben, oder?

“Das Album wird am 7. April veröffentlicht. Ich ebne gerade den Weg für eine echte Hit-Mania. es fühlt sich gut an. Mein erstes Album “Jealous Ones Still Envy” war mein Größtes und Erfolgreichstes und bis zum heutigen Tag, hatte ich nie das Gefühl, dass eine meiner Platten, meinen Debütalbum das Wasser reichen konnte. Deshalb wird es jetzt wieder Hits regnen!”

“Wir sind sehr stolz auf Fat Joes neueste Kreation und sind glücklich, dass wir unsere erfolgreiche Beziehung fortsetzen werden. Er hat schon immer einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf die Hip Hop-Szene, die sehr viele Genres und Fans begeistert. Das Album wird großartige und die Resonanz ist jetzt schon umwerfend!”

Pop-Rap-Schrott...