Latino rapper
Fat Joe (aka Fat Joe da Gangsta,
Joey Crack, and his real name, Joe Cartagena) was raised in the South Bronx area of New York. It was through an older brother that Cartagena learned the ways of the street, as well as discovering
rap music via the sounds of such groundbreaking artists as Theodore,
Funky 4 + 1, and the Furious Five. Eventually going by the name of
Fat Joe, the rapper secured a recording contract with the Relativity label in the early '90s, resulting in the release of his full-length debut, Represent, in 1993 (which spawned the single "Flow Joe," peaking at the number one spot on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart).
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Two years later,
Fat Joe issued his sophomore effort, Jealous One's Envy, which included a cameo appearance by
KRS-One as well as production contributions by the likes of
DJ Premier, L.E.S., and Domingo. Around the same time,
Fat Joe appeared on
LL Cool J's big hit "I Shot Ya" (along with
Foxy Brown and
Keith Murray) and collaborated with
Wu-Tang Clan's
Raekwon on a track from the "Envy" single, called "Firewater." By the late '90s,
Fat Joe had switched record labels (signing on with Atlantic) and tried his hand at other non-musical career ventures such as opening a clothing store called Fat Joe's Halftime, a barber shop, and a fashion line, FJ560. In addition, he signed a production and distribution deal with Atlantic Records and Mystic Entertainment (which he ran with a partner named Big Greg). 1998 saw the release of
Fat Joe's debut for Atlantic,
Don Cartagena, which featured cameo appearances by the likes of Puff Daddy,
Nas,
Raekwon, Big Pun, and
Jadakiss (
the LOX), following it up in 2001 with
Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.), which included contributions from
Ludacris,
Petey Pablo,
M.O.P.,
R. Kelly, and
Remy.
Loyalty followed in 2002, and
All or Nothing arrived three years after that. The raw
Me, Myself and I from 2006 found the rapper on his own Terror Squad imprint, which was distributed by EMI. His second album for the label,
The Elephant in the Room, appeared in 2008. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
