Rapper and record producer Fat Joe, who was born and raised in New York City, has an estimated net worth of $4 million. Fat Joe pursued a fruitful solo career after making a reputation for himself with the D.I.T.C. Crew in the early 1990s.
He was quite successful in this endeavour. After some time, he established his own own music label and named it Terror Squad. Through the course of his career, Fat Joe has shared the stage with a number of prominent figures in the music business. In addition to his career in music, Fat Joe has had a number of appearances in movies.
Fat Joe Early Life
Joseph Antonio Cartagena is what Fat Joe’s given name actually is. He was born on the 19th of August in the year 1970 in the community of South Bronx in the city of New York. Cartagena’s ancestry may be traced back to Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Cartagena was pushed into a life of crime at a young age due to the violent and destitute environment in which he had spent his childhood. During his time at school, he called himself a “bully,” and he frequently stole in order to provide for his family. He admitted that he did this. Joseph’s brother showed him the music that would become his life’s great love and passion when they were very young.
Fat Joe Career
Cartagena began performing under the moniker “Fat Joe da Gangster” in 1992 after becoming a member of the Diggin’ in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C). During this period, he had the opportunity to work with a variety of musicians, allowing him to make important connections in the music industry that he would subsequently put to use in the establishment of his record company. After first being signed to Relativity Records, he was finally ready to release his first album the following year in 1993.
Fat Joe released his debut solo album titled “Represent,” which featured the successful single “Flow Joe.” The song dominated the Rap Charts and was instrumental in helping Fat Joe have a successful beginning to his career as a recording artist. Jealous One’s Envy, his second studio album, was released the following year in 1995.
Fat Joe’s fame was further cemented as a result of the success of the song “Envy,” which went well on the charts. During a session at the recording studio, he happened to cross paths with LL Cool J, which brought the situation to a new level. He was asked to join the recording session for the song “I Shot Ya,” and he later made an appearance in the music video for the song.
During this time, Fat Joe also began working with Big Pun, an artist that he was directly responsible for discovering. On his third studio album, Don Cartegena, which was released in 1998, Fat Joe worked with other musicians, including Nas, Diddy, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The song “Bet Ya Man Can’t Triz” and the music of the same name both went on to become extremely popular. This album also had the purpose of introducing Fat Joe’s new group named Terror Squad, which comprised of several members like Big Pun, Cuban Link, and Prospect. In addition to being the name of Fat Joe’s new record label, Terror Squad was the umbrella under which he marketed a number of other musicians.
On his fourth studio album, titled Jealous Ones Still Envy, Fat Joe continues to work with notable musicians in a collaborative capacity. Irv Gotti was the album’s producer, and it included performances by musicians like as Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Ludacris, among others.
In spite of the fact that “We Thuggin'” was a significant success off the album, “What’s Luv” utterly eclipsed it. The song, which featured Ashanti and Ja Rule, has since become one of the most enduring and sentimental anthems from the early 2000s and is often regarded as Fat Joe’s most commercially successful song of all time. All of these factors contributed to the amount of popularity that Fat Joe would never again achieve with any other album, not even with Loyalty, which was released in 2002. The album Jealous Ones Still Envy did well enough over time to earn a platinum certification.
Fat Joe 50 Cent Feud
True Story was the title of Terror Squad’s final studio album, which was released in 2004. The album includes the successful single “Lean Back,” which was a joint effort between Remy Ma and the artist. One of Fat Joe’s most popular tracks ever, the single spent a total of three weeks atop the charts, making it easily one of his most commercially successful recordings overall.
2005 marked the beginning of the infamous battle between Fat Joe and 50 Cent. It all started with Ja Rule when 50 Cent voiced his disapproval of Fat Joe’s collaboration with the rapper in question. In his sixth studio album, “All or Nothing,” Fat Joe responded to his critics with a diss tune. In addition, tracks from musicians like as R. Kelly, Eminem, and Remy Ma were included on the album.
Fat Joe ultimately went public with his criticism of 50 Cent, calling him a coward and accusing him of lacking street cred. This led to the escalation of their dispute. Things came to a head in 2005 at the MTV Video Music Awards when Fat Joe insulted 50 Cent as he was performing on stage. This prompted 50 Cent to storm onto the platform while hurling profanities at Fat Joe. The award programme transitioned into the commercial break quite swiftly.
After that, Fat Joe worked with Lil Wayne on his seventh album, which was titled Me, Myself, and I. This resulted in the creation of the smash tune “Make It Rain,” which was nominated for a Grammy. During this time, 50 Cent and Fat Joe resumed their feuding relationship with one another. 50 Cent made fun of Fat Joe’s new album, The Elephant in the Room, stating that his mixtape sold more units and that he “killed” Fat Joe’s career single-handedly. This happened after Fat Joe had released the record.
Fat Joe continued to work with a wide variety of musicians throughout the course of the subsequent several years, as seen by the release of albums such as J.O.S.E. 2 and The Darkside Vol. 1. Fat Joe made the announcement shortly after getting a new record deal with E1 Music. He stated that he intended to release two more Darkside mixtapes before calling it a career. Fat Joe continued to produce songs throughout the course of the subsequent few years through the use of various collaborations with other artists, including Cool and Dre, Ludacris, ASAP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, and French Montana.
Fat Joe Legal Issues
Fat Joe has struggled with a number of legal issues over the course of his career. On at least two separate occasions, Fat Joe has been charged with assault. He has also been called to stand as a witness for two separate murder trials. The man on trial was Fat Joe’s bodyguard. In a separate murder trial, Fat Joe was sitting in a car with two men who were fatally shot and he subsequently was called as a witness for the trial.
Fat Joe Property
Joe spent $115,000 in the year 2000 to purchase an acre of land in Plantation, Florida, which is located close to Fort Lauderdale. After that, he crafted a residence that was 5,300 square feet in size. In 2010, he put the property up for sale at a price of $2 million, but he was unable to find a buyer. As of the time this article was written, he is still the owner of the land.
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