Fat Joe

Fat Joe was born Joseph Antonio Cartagena on August 19, 1970, in South Bronx, New York City, to the parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. He grew up in public housing with a tough neighborhood and resorted to burglary to supplement his family’s income. 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.

In the early 1990s, he signed a contract with ‘Relativity Records’ as a part of the group D.I.T.C. (Diggin In The Crates crew) and used the stage name ‘Fat Joe da Gangsta.’ He released his debut album, ‘Represent,’ in 1993. The album included works from artists, such as Diamond D., Lord Finesse, and The Beatnuts, among others. ‘Flow Joe,’ the lead single from the album, made to the number one position on the ‘Billboard Hop Rap Singles’ chart. ‘Watch the Sound,’ ‘This Shit is Real’ were some other singles from the same album.

‘Jealous One’s envy’ (1995) was his second album and it included contributions from Diamond D., and the acclaimed artist, KRS-One. A single, ‘Envy,’ from this album reached number 8 on the ‘Hot Rap Tracks’ chart. The album also included ‘Watch Out,’ featuring Latino rapper Big Pun, whose music had influenced Fat Joe since his teen years. Joe, too, contributed to the recordings of other artists, including ‘LL Cool J.’

In 1998, he signed up with the ‘Atlantic Records’ and released his third album, ‘Don Cartagena.’ It reached number 7 on the ‘Billboard 200’ and the RIAA certified it as gold. The album featured Big Pun, Diddy, Raekwon, Jadakiss, among others and the album also saw the debut of Joe’s own group, ‘Terror Squad.’ The members of the ‘Terror Squad’ are Carbon Link, Triple Seis, Prospect, Late Big Pun, Armageddon and Remy Ma (who joined later). The most popular singles of this album were ‘Don Cartagena’ and ‘Bet Ya Man Can’t Triz.’ Joe featured in Jennifer Lopez’s 1999 single ‘Feelin So Good.’

His fourth album, ‘Jealous Ones Still Envy,’ (J.O.S.E.) in 2001, featured many well-known names, including Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, Ludacris, Ashanti, R. Kelly, Busta Rhymes, Buju Banton and others. This was his most successful album and was certified platinum. R. Kelly’s single, ‘We Thuggin,’ from this album became popular and Irv Gotti’s ‘What’s Luv?’ featuring Ja Rule and Ashanti was a major hit.

Released in 2002, Fat Joe’s fifth album ‘Loyalty’ was not a commercial success as his previous one. In 2004, he recorded for the ‘Terror Squad’s’ second album, ‘True Story.’ The number, ‘Lean Back,’ featuring Joe with Remy Ma, became a massive hit.

In June 1998, He was arrested for stealing a gold chain, and later in September 1998, he and big Pun were arrested on assault charges. He has been a witness in murder cases.

Between August and November of 2013, Fat Joe served a prison sentence of 4 months for tax evasion. He pleaded guilty of not paying income tax on more than $3 million between 2007 and 2010.