Not many artists that were new jacks in the early 90s, have survived the tumultuous changes in the industry like Fat Joe. Starting his career as a member of the Diggin' In The Crates Crew which includes Diamond D, OC, Showbiz and AG, Lord FInesse, and Big L (R.I.P.), Joey Crack quickly came into his own as a solo artist. His debut album, "Fat Joe The Gangsta", earned him national attention and made the major labels take interest in him. Aside from his personal accomplishments after completing six successful albums, a couple of the most notable names in the game came through his training camp, the Terror Squad. Known for discovering lyrical icons Big Pun (R.I.P.) and Remy Ma, Joseph Cartagena has made his permanent mark in Hip Hop and expanded his artistry into other genres of music as well as hits in the box office. After surviving the unprovoked attack from 50 Cent and G Unit unlike any of his other targets, Joe regained his focus and is set to release his seventh banger, "Me, Myself, And I" in November. HHNLive.com's ShaBe delved into a "real talk" session with the Don about 50 Cent, his squad squabbles, and his diverse, yet result producing approach to his new album.

HHNLive.com: So this is your seventh album right?

Fat Joe: I thought about that the other day. I didn't realize it was seven albums. That's a lot of work. I been really just workin'. Maybe if I started lookin' at it like 'seven albums?', maybe I'll slow up a little. T. I. been pumpin' albums out there. Weezy, everybody just keep comin'. If I wanna compete, I gotta keep albums comin'.

HHNLive.com: A lot of people don't even know your history in the rap game. Some people think that Fat Joe came out with Big Pun, but I remember the Fat Joe on the "Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop" album.

Fat Joe: Yeah, That's that Diamond D, Diggin' In The Crates. That's the first time anybody ever heard me. I was just talkin' shit. Then I got some adlibs on Diamond's songs, so whenever I heard Diamond's songs, I tell niggas, 'Listen! That's me!' They used to be like, 'Shut the fuck up. What are you talkin' about?' So, Diamond D. is actually the person that discovered me and put me on. If it wasn't for him, I'd be dead right now.

HHNLive.com: When he first put you on, did you see that as your way out of the hood?..

Fat Joe: Absolutely. You know, I was in the streets for real. When I gave up the streets, I knew I had no choice. A lot of cats in the street ain't even respect what I was doin' or what my grind was. They respected me as a real street dude. So when I told niggas I was gonna rap and all that, they was lookin' at me like, 'Fuck you think this is? This ain't no Video Music Box.' They looked at me crazy. Now every fuckin' hustler in the world wanna be a rapper, a rap label or.....niggas was looked at me like I was playin' myself when I went and did it. I knew this had to be my way out. I had to be focused and make somethin' of it.

HHNLIve.com: Let's talk about the All Or Nothing album. Were you content with the success of the album?

Fat Joe: You know I always wanted to be more and more successful. I'm passionate about music. I'm passionate about my fans and if people like my music and shit like that. I just want niggas walkin' around sayin', "That new Joe Crack record is crazy right there." As far as sales, I would love for it to sell millions and millions of records. If it doesn't I can't put a gun to your head and force you to go and buy the album. Of course we always want it to be more successful. Artists that sell three million wish they sold ten million. It was alright with me to be honest with you.

HHNLive.com: Did the situation with 50 overshadow the album?

Fat Joe: It definitely did. It's perfect timing that I realized this is what he does. Gets into beef with niggas right when they droppin' they albums. Just to fuck a nigga vibe up or whatever to where you don't think clear. I thank God that a year later things have changed and I'm not in jail 'cause
I swear to God when I heard the nigga dissin' me, I swore I was goin' to jail. I was like, "Yo, my life is over 'cause I'm gonna really do somethin' crazy." Live on TV. I'm glad I learned somethin'. That I actually have patience.

HHNLive.com:..And from what I see you get more respect than him in the street. People wanna hear Fat Joe. They don't wanna hear this 50 stuff that's out right now..

Fat Joe: I don't know about all that 'cause somebody buyin' the nigga's shit. You know, just as far as a man, respect in the street, we don't see him. You don't go to Queens and see him out on the corner or nothin'. Forget him because we dwellin' on him. A lot of these rappers out here don't know what the fuck fried chicken and collard greens is or smokin' a blunt wit' a nigga on the stoop is. So, we all call niggas the messiahs and we call niggas the kings and the gods of this rap music and these niggas is bourgeois. They can't even fuckin' relate to what's goin' on in the hood and what niggas is dealing with. You understand what I'm sayin'? You fuck around and take your camera and drive all around the hoods in fuckin' New York City and see how many rappers you really do bump into...Niggas is not out here, man. I be out here everyday. Wherever I'm at. When I'm in L.A., I'm in Compton. I'm everywhere. I feel like if you can't get respect where you from, if you can't go back to the community you supposedly representin', what's it about? You know what I'm sayin'? It really disturbs me, man. I know it's some niggas in the rap game that just ride past Harlem. They ride past Bronx, Brooklyn, or they stay downtown, midtown, bourgeois shit. Other than that, they at the Hamptons and shit like that...And they the niggas spreadin' the hood shit actin' like it really ain't crazy.

HHNLive.com: Now I want to touch on something real important for the fans. You discovered what we know as one of the best lyricists of all time in this rap shit.

Fat Joe: Yeah, B.P. Big Pun. I'm walkin' down to the store in the Bronx. So I met him comin' out the bodega and niggas is rhymin'.I'm like, "What the fuck is this fat, Puerto Rican nigga doin' rhymin' right here?" The nigga said a rhyme, I was like, 'Jesus, this nigga is crazy!' Then I stopped and was like, "Can I hear you say somethin' else?" He was like, '..I snatched the moon out the sky and blew the sun away. Me and my niggas play hardball/ Strictly hardcore lyrics 'till I feel it's breakin' God's law/But I gotta do it....get shot and lose a lot of fluid. Spot, I blew it at an early age/Ever since the curly braids, I would make waves wit' the 40 gauge..." I was like, "Aww, shit!" The next day, I put him on my album... I was like, 'Damn,. this nigga's amazin'!' I knew Puff Daddy when he ain't have no money. I knew Biggie when they was broke. Both of them. So I seen what they did wit' Biggie and I was like, "Yo, I want this nigga to be Puerto Rican Biggie!" I knew he was lyrical and everything. So I was like, "My nigga, this is how we gonna do it. We gonna talk to these bitches on the song." He came with "Still Not A Player" and the rest was history. He was the most talented nigga, the most loyal nigga. You know, he taught me how to write. I ain't even gonna lie to you. I introduced him to the game, he made me step my game up. He taught me like, "Yo, Joe like this.. Spit your shit like this..make sure your shit is right like this...

HHNLive.com: What influence did Big Pun have on your lyrical ability? After Twinz (Deep Cover '98), people saw a new Fat Joe.

Fat Joe: Yeah, the nigga was hard, man. People ain't realize how hard it was to rhyme with Big Pun. You know what I'm sayin'? Rhyme wit' him, rhyme after him. Just when you thought you said a dope rhyme, he comes, "..dead in the middle of Little Italy. Little did he know every riddle to middle men who didn't do diddley.." , it's like, what the fuck are you supposed to do?...He showed me a blueprint. He showed me how to write this shit crazy. Now, I'm progressin', I study the game, so every time I come out, I try to get better and better.

HHNLive.com: What to have to say to people that accuse you of taking money from him and royalties from his family after his death?

Fat Joe: That's ludicrous. That's crazy..that's the craziest shit ever. First of all, I ain't never in my life steal nothin' from Big Pun. Life. From him or no artist. So if an artist is mine and they want to argue wit' me, fine, but they ain't never argue wit' me about takin' advantage of them. I ain't never stole from none of my artists. If anything, they owe me money. You know what I'm sayin'? I put niggas on. I take niggas from not havin' nothin' to bein' rich millionaires. Niggas got a million cars and all that. How could I steal from them? Wit' his family, you know, the niggas was rich before he died. Then he died and they told me, "Yo, we spent that money unwisely.." Then I went and got them way more paper, no disrespect to you, than you'll ever see in your life. I got 'em rich money. Not shorts, I got these niggas rich. Alright, your man is dead, cool and everything, aight, let's go get you some real money. So we did "Endangered Species". All the money I was supposed to make, all of the money he was supposed to make, we took that whole budget and gave it to his wife and his kids and that was like, crazy dough, my nigga. Real shit. So I gave them all the money from that shit, anything that was comin' in from publishing, everything was goin' to his wife and kids. So you would think I was doin' the honorable thing. Then when they go and spend their money unwisely and shit, then they come back and they start tellin' people this nigga ain't lookin' out for us. First of all, I gave you what my family ain't got. You understand what I'm sayin'? So, you turn it around, they spend their shit unwisely, then you try to find a way to help them again. Then when they spend that money too fast, they come back again, then after a while, you start feelin' like you gettin' extorted or some shit. I never shit on people or nothin' like that. I never try to throw bad vibes in the game because that's my brother and that's his wife, that's his family. I just try to deal wit' pride and dignity and make sure he's respected in an honorable way. So it's unfortunate that niggas would even say shit like that.

HHNLive.com: So do you just look at it like that's just the cost of being the boss and you just gotta handle shit like that?

Fat Joe: Yo, it used to hurt me for niggas to tell me that. It's hurts for you to come out of a bodega and see a nigga rappin' and then a year later of you puttin' your life or two years later of you puttin' your life into a nigga, he's a millionaire. You know you never took advantage of this nigga whatsoever. We was brothers. We loved each other. We was loyal to each other. To this day, that's my brother. So it hurts when you hear this shit after he passed away. He had my face tattooed on his arm, so he would never accuse me of no shit like this. Then when you get the devil involved and you get niggas throwin' shit in the game, the shit really hurts you.

HHNLive.com: What about the issue with Cuban Link. Will y'all ever squash the beef and make music again?

Fat Joe: Hell no. Ever in life, my nigga. Ever in life will I fuck with that dude. Life. He'll never get nothin' from me. He do what he do, I do what I do. Obviously, he put an album out and the shit sold like four records. Nobody heard it. They can keep on forever sayin', "Oh well, Joe blackballed him." Joe don't tell nobody not to play that nigga's shit. Plain and simple, the nigga ain't hot.

HHNLive.com: Why wasn't you as closely involved in Remy's album?

Fat Joe: I would be there everyday. When she started her album, I was with her. You gotta understand. Remy is a real strong sister. We're having the same problem with this album. The first thing she tells me, " Joe, I want total creative control." This is her commands! Even on this album, from jump, she wants the shit in writing! I wanna do whatever the fuck I wanna do...Not to take nothin' from her 'cause she is the nicest bitch in the game. Her album was crazy and I do think niggas was supposed to promote it more. Me and Steve Rifkind had so much success because of Big Pun and everything we ever did together. All we ever had was success. I don't even talk to this nigga no more 'cause I fell like he did us dirty. Not just him. The people he answers to. I go up in there like a fuckin' room like this and niggas is like, "Yeah, Joe! We're gonna do it!" This, this, and that. Niggas never lied to me. Being that I'm a real nigga, you gotta come real wit' me, so just tell me no I ain't doin' it, but you tell me, "Joe, we gonna go for it." Niggas was up in there tellin' me that's why we kept pushin' it back. I kept tellin' her,"Rem, these niggas ain't doin' what they gotta do. Gimme some time to really work these niggas so they can spend this money so your shit could pop." She was in a rush to finally come out and show the world that she was the hottest bitch and they ain't really do the right thing by her. Me, I'm the middle man. You know what I'm sayin'? Black and Spanish niggas in the 'hood, I'm the only nigga they can relate to. When I say Steve Rifkind or somebody, who are they? You don't know them. The Lox is screamin', "Free The Lox! Get me off of Puffy's shit!" Had that been a white nigga, "Free me off of John Massenberg", niggas'll be like, "Oh well, another nigga got robbed." But you know your man Puff is backed up. So, niggas in the 'hood is like, "Yo Puff, let them go!" That goes into the cost of being the boss. That's where that cliche is effective.

HHNLive.com: Even though your music base is Hip Hop, Tony Sunshine is one of the most talented R&B singers that have yet to be released. What's goin' on with his album?

Fat Joe: We almost finished with his album right now. His album is crazy. Stupid crazy. I'm gonna hit you wit' some real shit being that this interview is probably one of the realest interviews I ever done being that I'm feel your vibe and I'm just spittin' it at you 'cause I really don't talk about most of this shit you just asked me about. Tony Sunshine, they sleep on him because he's Puerto Rican and he's doin' Black music. He was signed to like three different record labels. His music speaks for itself. The nigga's crazy. I had a nigga tell me right in a room like this, " Yo, what are we supposed to do with this? He's doing Black music and he's Latino!" My nigga, I'm Puerto Rican and I do Black music. What the fuck you think I do? What do you think Big Pun is? So, we finally got him at a good place where niggas seem real excited his project. He's at U.B.O.(Urban Box Office) and they're workin' wit' him. I was just in the studio with him two nights ago. I'm tryin' to get Roc(wilder), Scott Storch, Rodney Jerkins. We only need two more tracks, but his shit is crazy. I'm trying to get some mid-tempo, up-tempo songs for him. Tony is one nigga that...he picks up the phone, like "Yo, I need a bitch on this song."... He puts in requests. Back to Remy, she's her own boss. She makes it her business that she wants to run her own shit. So then don't tell me why I wasn't there. You understand what I'm sayin'? You didn't want me there. It's a tight situation.

HHNLive.com.: Being one of the few successful Latino rap artists, do you feel a responsibility to Latino youth as far as being a role model?

Fat Joe: Well, you know, I'm a role model as it is. This music right here, kids, families, and everybody needs to understand that this is entertainment. Dip Set ain't really robbin' the liquor store. They livin' nice. They chillin'. Fat Joe ain't killin' people. This is all entertainment. You know, I say some of the craziest shit I could ever say in my life on music. It's 'cause I can. That's what niggas want to hear, niggas wanna work out to that shit, niggas wanna vent through that shit. You understand what I'm sayin'? As far as kids, a role model, yeah, I'm a great father. Niggas call me a pillar of my community. I give back. I do basketbaIl camps. You see me in Harlem all summer. Most of your celebrities, they get money and they run away from the 'hood. You see me in the 'hood. I gave computers to my elementary school. I invest in my community. I'm goin' out to Puerto Rico and givin' out some computers out there to some underprivileged schools. So, you know, I'm always constantly in my community. That's how you can judge me as a role model. Through my music, I say crazy shit so, you know, it's entertainment.

HHNLive.com: You've expanded outside of the music onto the silver screen. Thicker Than Water, Urban Menace,...

Fat Joe: I'm tryin'. I'm tryin' to get that money. Right now, I got like three networks biddin' on a sitcom I wrote about me and my family. People just see Fat Joe the rapper and think I wake up in the morning and drink Cristal. They don't realize that I got drunk uncles, a wife that I argue with...

HHNLive.com: How's Lorena doin'?

Fat Joe: She's doin' perfect. To see my son tryin' to be like me..Just representin' that Latino culture 'cause we don't really see Latino culture on TV. On the Black side, we caught the Martins, we caught the Fresh Princes and all that. You ain't never seen a Latino show that a nigga that you know and that you cool with really could relate to. They can't really relate to the corny shit we be seein' on TV.

HHNLive.com: You got joints with numerous artists. Ricky Martin, Nina Sky...

Fat Joe: I like to step out of the box. Versatility, step out of the box. Go to Jamaica and fuck wit' Buju, go everywhere. I like to step out of the box. Versatility. I want niggas to look at my music twenty years from now and be like, "Damn, he worked with this one, that one. He did this, he did that. He ain't wanna just stay in one zone." You know what I'm sayin'?


HHNLive.com: The new album is "Me, Myself, and I", November 14th, right?

Fat Joe: November 14th. It ain't goin' nowhere.

HHNLive.com: Who you got on there?

Fat Joe: Producer-wise, we got Scott Storch. He did two joints. We got LV outta Harlem. Up and coming producer...straight fire. We got Street Runner..straight fire out of Miami. New Jersey Devil, DJ Khaled, and the first single is with Lil' Wayne called "Make It Rain". Scott Storch produced it. The video just touched down.

HHNLive.com: You got two joints with Wayne, right?

Fat Joe: I got another joint with Wayne called "The Prophet" that's gonna fuck the streets up so legendary. You know, like my whole album is real hard, real street. My second single is with The Game called "Breathe And Stop." We goin' to Jamaica to shoot that video. I got a young brother called Murder Cap. He's outta Kurupt Money in the Bronx. You know, I put him on the album...It is what it is.

HHNLive.com: Now the joint you got with Game, is that showing an alliance between T.S. and Black Wall Street?

Fat Joe: Not really. He hollered at me. He actually passed me the frisbee. We gave Ja Rule "New York..", you know what I'm sayin'? So he was like,"Crack, I got this crazy shit. I think it's for you." So I came through and the shit was crazy. I couldn't believe he was givin' me this shit... Then I worked on the "One Blood" remix wit' him. It's definitely alliance time right now. Enemies is the powers that be. Niggas got crazy money. They tryin' to stop niggas politically by any means necessary. So, you can't shit on Nas. You can't shit on Game. You can't shit on the Lox. You can't shit on Puff. You can't shit on Kim. You can't shit on the whole fuckin' world and expect niggas to just take that. You know what I'm sayin'? At the same time, think of the niggas he shitted on. R.I.P. G Unit, man. You know niggas ain't feelin' them in the 'hood no more. The illusion is over, man. It is what it is.

HHNLive.com: The two joints you got wit' Lil' Wayne. I wanted to talk about that because that touched on that Dirty South feel.

Fat Joe: You know, I live in Miami, I live in New York. I spend two weeks in Miami and two weeks in New York and I'm neighbors with Wayne. DJ Khaled is like my best friend and he's like Wayne's best friend and niggas just gelled together. First of all, Lil' Wayne is the hardest nigga doin' it right now. He's the nicest nigga in the game, I don't give a fuck. Dirty South, New York, whatever, he's bringin' it. Flows, records, whatever. Everything he's touchin', he's killin'. So, in order for me to be in the game so long, to work wit' a nigga that's on fire, it's the Punisher again. I'm not comparing him to Pun in no way, I'm just sayin', he keepin' me on my toes.

HHNLive.com: Fat Joe, good lookin' and we lookin' forward to a follow up to the success of the album.

Fat Joe: Thanks, man. November 14th go get that.

With "Make It Rain" already burning up the radio waves and some of the top producers in the game in his corner, it's no secret why Fat Joe's track record has been so consistent. His BX native eardrum is tuned to that original sound that the people are looking for, which at one time could only be found in his hometown in the parks. His continued success is proof that thoroughbreds like Joey Crack will keep producing that timeless sound for years to come.