About Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew in 1992 until pursuing a solo career with the release of his debut studio album, Represent the following year. Cartegena formed the hip hop group Terror Squad and its namesake record label in the late 1990s, through which he has signed fellow New York artists including Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, and Cuban Link, as well as then-unknown producers DJ Khaled and Cool & Dre.
Represent was preceded by his debut single "Flow Joe", which entered the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked atop the Hot Rap Songs chart. The album was followed by Jealous One's Envy , Don Cartagena , and Jealous Ones Still Envy —the latter received platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and yielded the hit single, "What's Luv?" . The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, while his 2004 single "Lean Back" peaked atop the chart and remains his most commercially successful release. Cartagena has also released the top 40 singles "Make It Rain" in 2006, and "All the Way Up" a decade later.
Cartagena has appeared in several films, including Scary Movie 3 and Happy Feet, as well as Spike Lee's Netflix series She's Gotta Have It. In 2018, he created and hosted the Coca Vision podcast on Tidal, where he discusses music, friendships, and pop culture with various celebrity guests.
Fat Joe was born Joseph Antonio Cartagena in the Bronx borough of New York City, where he was raised by parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Living in the Forest Houses, a public housing project in the South Bronx neighborhood of Morrisania, Fat Joe began stealing at a young age to support his family. He also admits that he was a bully in his childhood. His brother introduced him to hip hop music.
Under stage name Fat Joe da Gangsta and part of the rap group D.I.T.C., Cartagena was signed to Relativity Records in the early 1990s, recording material and working with many artists whom he would later sign to his own label. In 1993, his debut album Represent was released, featuring production from The Beatnuts, Diamond D, Lord Finesse, and others. Its lead single, "Flow Joe" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart; other minor singles from the album included "Watch the Sound" and "This Shit Is Real".
In 1995, Fat Joe released his second studio album, Jealous One's Envy, which peaked at No. 71 on The Billboard 200 and at No. 7 on Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums. The album featured a guest appearance from KRS-One and production from Diamond D. The lead single was "Success", which did not chart, but his second single, "Envy" peaked at No. 8 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. One day while writing for the album at Chung King Studios, Fat Joe happened to find that his rap idol, LL Cool J was in another room with Trackmasters, working on the remix version of LL's single "I Shot Ya". After being welcomed to contribute a verse, Joe appeared on the record and in its accompanying video along with Foxy Brown, Keith Murray, and Prodigy of Mobb Deep. The track is considered by Joe to be one of his career highlights.
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