Fat Joe

Fat Joe

Fat Joe (Joseph Antonio Cartagena) is an American rapper and actor, born on August 19, 1970, in the South Bronx area of New York City. He grew up in public housing with a tough neighborhood and resorted to burglary to supplement his family’s income. Also, he admits that he was a bully in his childhood. His older brother introduced him to music, and he imbibed Latin as well as Zulu music. The music of ‘Furious Five,’ ‘Funky 4 + 1,’ and ‘Theodore’ influenced his early years. He found inspiration from his surroundings for writing lyrics. Fat Joe began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin’ in the Crates Crew. Then forged a solo career and set up his label Terror Squad. He signed Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, Cuban Link, Armageddon, Prospect, Triple Seis and DJ Khaled as well as discover producers Cool & Dre.

Fat Joe signed to Relativity Records in the early 1990s and released his solo album Represent in 1993 and spawned the Flow Joe. His lead single, Flow Joe reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs. In 1995, Fat Joe released his second studio album, Jealous One’s Envy, which peaked number 71 on the Billboard 200 and at number 7 on Top R&B/Hip Hop albums. Furthermore, he released his third album and his first Atlantic Records in 1998. It reached number 7 on The Billboard and number 2 on Top R&B/Hip Hop albums. His fourth album Jealous Ones Still Envy is the most successful album released in 2001. Fat Joe’s fifth album Loyalty, released later in 2002.

Moreover, Fat Joe appeared in several films, including Scary Movie 3 and Happy Feet. As well as Spike Lee’s Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It. He began hosting a podcast on Tida, Coca Vision, where he discusses music, friendships, and pop culture in 2018. Fat Joe’s upcoming album Family Ties scheduled to be released in late 2019.