Never Liked Fat Joe: A Guest in Hip Hop

Never Liked Fat Joe -

I’ve never liked Fat Joe.  It’s always been an unpopular opinion of mine.  Within my circle of family and friends, especially those who love hip hop, none have ever agreed with me. To me, coming from a time in hip hop, where we respected originality, Fat Joe created a problem.  This problem he created, has never been solved, and I’ll argue today, exists cause we did not shut it down then.  There is a lack of originality in hip hop today.

Let’s get into his racist statements first.

You cannot argue, that multiple rap artists, sound exactly the same these days. It’s not even a new issue … at this point.

Found myself thinking about this, just the other day. Why are so many of these rappers, Singing and sounding like T-Pain?  Believe it or not, it goes back to this problem created by us, as fans, accepting Fat Joe. That was a huge mistake.  Again, let me make this really clear – Fat Joe is a Style Biter.

In the late 1990s, an accusation like that, had more weight to it. Today, in 2024, too many people will argue it’s ok to bite someone else’s entire style.

The shit is wack, has always been wack, and will forever be nothing more than wack to me. But that’s not the case, for far too many people.  Too many people are more than ok, with 100 MC’s sounding just alike. It’s one of many reasons that discussions began, about hip hop, being dead.  Entire categories were spawned, focusing mostly on a ‘group’ called, Mumble rappers.  Rappers who all, in a nutshell, had the exact same style.

We should’ve took a stand when Fat Joe showed up on the scene. We failed. When I say we, the hip hop community & fanbase, failed.

However, I’ve proudly stood alone, all this time, as one of the few that Never Liked Fat Joe.

With his recent comments, even more recent than the ones I mentioned in this article on documentary, Microphone Check, I’m feeling vindicated.

Hip Hop celebrating 50 years, was a special time. I recently heard an interview with Common on EYL, talking about how that hip hop 50 woke something up inside of him. We have been blessed all of 2024 with several hip hop OG’s dropping brand new albums.  Usually, when they do, their names ‘trend’ on social platforms all week.  Fat Joe, apparently dropped a album just last week.

I have not heard a single person talk about it. That’s how irrelevant Fat Joe truly is. My only wish is, that he never became relevant.

Not too long ago, the widow of Big Pun, went on a short interview, and stated, “Had Big Pun never signed to Fat Joe’s label, he would not be relevant today”.  The interviewer was a plant, and just wanted to get her to apologize to Fat Joe.  At this time, I have not dug deep enough to find out just ‘what’ the lying fat slob feels he is owed an apology for.

Fat Joe needs to apologize to Black Americans, before 2025 –

But also, we as hip hop fans, have to learn this lesson now, even if it’s 50 years too late.  We used to understand, that non-black people in hip hop, were just guests.  That this was a artform of expression intended, for black people. Thing about us is, we’re so loving and accepting of others.  We can’t wait to show non black people how much better we are, than they are, cause we don’t hate and gatekeep, like they do. We let anyone who wants to be in our culture, be in our culture.

It’s a mistake, just about every time we take this approach. Many black people warned us but, this ongoing cycle of youngins not listening to the Old Heads, isn’t new. We never should have showed as much love to these people, like Fat Joe, as we did. Rarely do I put Eminem in ‘greatest rapper of all time’ lists that I make or discuss. Cause ‘to me’, he’s actually not. Yes, he had a few hits, yes at times his lyrics are dope as fuck.  Still, there are too many black MC’s who are better.

While it’s not ‘about race/skin color’ – it is, absolutely, about culture.

So much of what Eminem raps about, does not speak to me, or to my culture.  Even if some of us, have fallen into the traps of drug abuse, and weird ideas that for generation were seen as ‘white culture’. It’s still not our culture. Those ways, are not “our” ways.  Biting Styles used to be against our ways.  We used to hate on that, and did not support any MC doing it.

Somehow, we as a fanbase, made an exception with Fat Joe. This exception became even bigger, when Big Pun came on the scene.  Pun, could actually spit.

I’m not a player, I just crush a lot – was one of the dopest songs we had heard, when it came out. That OJay’s sample on the hook, and Pun’s incredible lyrical delivery, made him popular quick! Meanwhile, Fat Joe mostly rode those coattails into even more acceptance from the fans. Fat Joe came out first, and made a name for himself, but Big Pun absolutely, made him seem legit. It was because of Pun, that we allowed Joe to introduce more artists to us.  The entire time … there I was … hating.

I hated how, to me, Fat Joe seemed extremely inauthentic, yet people loved him…

Non black people who mimic black people always rubbed me the wrong way. It’s always felt more like mockery than appreciation or respect. To me that’s always been Fat Joe, who never had an authentic style or sound. He just, mimicked the popular style of the time. He was making music about selling crack, cause claiming you came up off selling crack was what Jay did.  Then he tried to sound like Wu-Tang, and then would try to sound like Mobb Deep.

I never bought it but instead, always felt Fat Joe was a … Studio Gangster. 

Another ‘term’ we don’t toss around nearly as much as we used to. Far too many MCs have seemingly gone out their way to ‘live their music’, seemingly in response to this term.  It started out with rappers who rapped about doing dirt, even when they haven’t, starting to do some dirt, get arrested, and now they feel like they’ve kept it ‘real’. (Whatever the fuck that means….)

It wasn’t real however. Over the years, more and more rappers making tales from the streets, ‘seem to’ come from the streets.

We see how things have, progressed from studio Gangsters, like Fat Joe, to what we see in Drill music. MC’s make a song, after they’ve done dirt. In these songs they self snitch, and give the feds all they need, to lock they asses up. It’s a sad truth that isn’t being discussed enough. A lot of this nonsense, stems from what came before.

We used to really ignore Studio Gangsters, cause they were fake.

It unfortunately sent a message that we don’t want that fake shit….

If you’re gonna rap about gangsta shit, you need to show us you’ve really been doing gangsta shit.

Lucky for Fat Joe, he came from that earlier era; where you could still play pretend, and sell records. Lucky to be Living off the talent of other MCs signed to his labels…

I’ve never liked Fat Joe for this reason.  He’s a fraud, and a fake, to me and I’m not surprised to hear his dishonest ‘takes’ as of late.

Oh, those true colors always shine through don’t they? After Fat Joe tried to lie, and claim hip hop was created by both blacks and Latinos, several people have been on his head.  Those comments did not go over well with him. Historic context and all, Fat Joe came off very much, sounding like an entitled colonizer. Similarly, just as they don’t like it when they get called out, Fat Joe doesn’t like it either.

After over a year now, he’s responded.  He sounds very angry, but also it sounded a bit staged.  They discussed this before they went live, and it was a rehearsed run up to what we saw unfold. Not only does he, continue to disrespect black people by saying a word, others have been asked, repeatedly, not to use. He uses the word, in a disrespectful way, towards the very people that did, indeed, birth hip hop. Those hateful comments were sent directly at those of us who’s ancestors made it possible for Fat Joe to even ‘pretend’ to sell Crack, in America.

: “below – FBA’s get Attacked by Cap from Fat Joe – with commentary from Phillip Scott” –

How do we feel about Math Hoffa, sitting here, laughing at this bullshit?

This is just as bad, in my mind, as Charlemagne yucking it up at Andrew Schulz’  offensive, racist “jokes.”  Math, is supposed to stop Fat Joe right there, and let him know he’s out of line. But, what is being reported to me, is Math, is not a Black American. This, is a prime example of why some of the division is present in the ‘black diaspora’ today. Given the chance to stand up for black Americans … Math Hoffa did and said nothing.

Instead, he lowkey agrees, and silently approves, this bullshit from Fat Joe.

Fat Joe is a punk, racist motha fucka, who has used black culture for self elevation. The entire time, hating on the very people, who lifted him up.  A recent interview, featuring “Cuban Link”, one of Fat Joe’s people – spills even more beans, and sheds more light. If anyone doesn’t realize that we literally are the authority yet, hopefully what’s happening now, will help.  It’s past time, for fans of hip hop, to gatekeep – and to stop allowing ‘others’ to get too comfortable in our house.

Cuban Link on Fat Joe’s ‘alleged’ Racist history — part 4; from Panda Chop News —

Shout outs to Cuban Link, for not allowing the bullshit to stand. Which is another aspect we do have to keep in mind. While many non-blacks are absolutely anti black, like punk ass Fat Joe. It’s never ‘all’ of them. Shout outs to people of other cultures, who speak out against anti black racism in your own cultures. There may be hope, still, for the future. With that said, while he does speak honestly in this clip, he stays ‘on code’.  Making a few statements along the way, to almost ‘excuse away’ the anti black racist remarks, Fat Joe has used.

When I think of Culture Vultures, I actually do think of Fat Joe. I’ve never liked the guy. Most of my people have never agreed with me and the same is true, for most hip hop fans. Not every non black person we embrace, who we ‘think’ embraces us, turns out to be fraudulent. Over time, people prove who they truly are. If we did not see it at first, the hope here, is we learn this lesson now. So that over the next 50 years of hip hop, we as a fanbase, do not allow it to repeat going forward.

Again, there are lessons to be learned, and we hope you’re paying attention to the class.

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