Fat Joe – Interview [2005]

They say good things come to those who wait. For over 10 years, Fat Joe has patiently waited for his opportunity to be among the greats in his field of music. Through years of hard work and dedication, Fat Joe has made his mark on hip-hop music, film, clothing and the culture as a whole. From his humble beginnings in the bullet-riddled streets of the Bronx to orchestrating the rise of the late, great Big Pun to making a whole nation “Lean Back” in 2004, Fat Joe has run the gamut of hard work in the music business and will enjoy the fruits of his labor with the release of his 6th album, All Or Nothing in stores June 14th.

We talk to Fat Joe at a sold out show in Vegas!

Hip: How has the tour been?

Fat Joe: It’s amazing. I used to be scared to fly for ten years and didn’t get out west much. It’s great to have fan support.

One problem with hip-hop back in the day is nobody toured for different reasons.

This tour with Nelly, me and T.I. is amazing. It’s a lot of fun. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had since I’ve been rapping on tour. There is no bullshit. It’s a bunch of guys who want to rock.

Is it nice because you get all that love every night?

Every night. You got Nelly, Fat Joe, and T.I. three of the hottest artists there is going one after another. When Fat Joe and T.I. hit you with the hits and then Nelly—there is no wack-ness to this tour.

That is what you should have called the tour.

Yeah ‘The No Wack-ness Tour.” (We both laugh)

You keep upping the ante on your records. Do you consider yourself like a painter who gets better and better with time and experience?

My favorite part of being an entertainer and this whole hip-hop shit is performing and seeing the fans. I love to feed off their energy. I figure out every night who has been a fan for years because they know all the lyrics. Sometimes they are short, tall, fat, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, everything. It’s amazing. There is nothing like going to Minnesota and all parts of the country and seeing fans enjoying something you created.

You make these records and see the numbers but don’t always see the faces. That has to be the great thing about it.

That’s the best. The best is putting the faces to the fans. You can see that you sold records in Boise, Idaho and you go there and see who bought it. Wow.

Do you ever change your writing style?

I pick a beat and the beat talks to me. It’s crazy. It’s like being a psychic. It’s weird. Different beats tell me different things. Some beats make me feel violent, some make me feel like I need to get sexy with the ladies, or some tell me you have to spit the lyrics. You know you have to rhyme and have that witty flow. That’s why I switch up the concepts.

“All or Nothing” seems to have a lot of concepts—more meaning behind the lyrics than usual.

There were a lot of concepts on this record. I have tracks “Temptation 1” and “Temptation 2.” It’s a story that is so scary. It’s like a tale of murder. It’s like a fuckin’ play bro. I saw a play here in Vegas last night and its real—it’s like so cinematic. The concept is crazy (Joe goes on to rhyme the whole verse into the chorus). It’s crazy because it’s a story. It’s a story that ain’t true and its entertainment. Everyone talks about killing and says they are this and that and I’m going to make to songs like a movie. You actually feel like you are killing the dude with me. But at the end of the day its art. It’s incredible.

Do you ever listen and go ‘wow, where did that come from?’

Yeah, but I just don’t know. This might have been from a movie. It might have been some shit like that.

Yeah, because we aren’t all writing like that.

You ain’t lying. (We both laugh) I let off a lot of my frustration and anger. I get a lot shit that I want to say in normal life that I do with music. Hip-hop music, I learned this years ago, is more sensationalized by the craziest shit—the crazy shit you say the more they love it. I know that it is crazy but hip-hop fans go crazy for some gangsta shit.

With the new Will Smith record I found one thing interesting, and only one thing, was when he said that hip-hop isn’t about being a gangster…

…he’s absolutely right. Hip-hop is everything. Hip-hop is fun. It’s the reason why it’s the number one form of music. It’s happy, sad, sexy, and violent; it’s everything. We cover everything. Will Smith is great at what he does. Will Smith has one of the greatest hip-hop songs ever—“Summertime.” We proud of him [sic]. He took hip-hop to another level. I don’t care if you like gangster shit you have to respect him.

Some people get big and well known and lose their edge. How do you maintain that?

First of all I love hip-hop. I worship hip-hop. I’m a fan. This is my life. If I wasn’t doing this I don’t know what I’d be doing. My whole life and everything I do is based on music. Whether its hip-hop or R&B. When I go to clubs I listen to the beats and their adlibs. I’m a student of the game. Since I’ve got in the game I’m the only rapper who has improved with every record. Lots of rappers come out with albums and deteriorate. I’m the only rapper in hip-hop history that has improved. I’m from the Bronx—the Jerusalem of hip-hop—the holy land. I hold that dear to my heart. Since I came in this game I started from the underground but always wanted to be a superstar and wanted people’s respect. I put my life on hold for hip-hop. I’ve done this for twelve or thirteen years and my kids are getting big and my family barely sees me. I do it all for hip-hop. I don’t think people realize how much work it takes to have a consistent career. Come from where I came from—I was wack when I first came out. People liked me because I was just a regular guy but I kept working at it until I got really good at it. I don’t say I’m the best but I’m up there.

I think one thing that fans don’t realize about artists is the amount of sacrifice. There is a ton of sacrifice.

Aw man. The sacrifice is unbelievable. Then you have a person like me who believes in winning and dreams of being the top dude and everyone respect me. I’ve been through a lot like when Pun died; I’ve gone through depression, lost my sister and grandfather and lots of different tragedies. I’ve stayed sane through my music. I keep wanting to show them. I want to be an icon. The music is all that keeps me alive.

+ Charlie Craine