The hills he had to pass over to make his way towards making some of his dreams a reality, really showed me how much perseverance, drive, and passion he had, and still has, and I wish him all the luck and positive vibes that he’s able to continue onward. There was some real violent heart wrenching revelations that was going on right in my backyard in The Bronx back in the day. What hurt the most was that Chris had always been there for everybody and many of us felt like we failed him. MH: So, you talked about how you had to revisit a lot of sad and traumatic events in your life, losing friends to gun violence, bullying that you experienced, police brutality, the loss of very close loved ones, coping with depression, even. Since 2017, Fat Joe has been managed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and he’s carved out a lucrative life outside of music that, even years after witnessing his successful reinvention from tough guy to music star, still feels surprising.

Growing up in a Latinx house meant that his music was played at home, at family gatherings, and everywhere in between. You know, the pioneers, the fathers of hip-hop is Grandmaster Flash, Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa. There are dishes like clam linguine in FCIs and they are part of educational programs to reduce recidivism. Joe had a different father than his older siblings, as his mother’s husband had been incarcerated and she moved on to a new relationship (Joe’s father.

You could tell that he is a good guy and that choosing a life of drugs and violence wasn't his purpose. And by the third, fourth day it became like an Instagram TV show where we was coming on every day at 7 o’clock at night. Because it's like I also had a deal with Reebok that they was trying to give me, and then turned around and people was like, "Yo, we ain't fuck with Reebok, if you fuck with Joe. My best friend on earth is doing life in prison, and every time I did a album, I thought about him in a cell.

Fat Joe’s new autobiography, The Book of José (co-written by veteran journalist Shaheem Reid), covers all of his career ups and downs, as well as many jaw-dropping, Goodfellas-worthy tales of near-death experiences from his days as a teenage hustler in the Bronx, and his stay in prison on tax charges (he has always blamed an errant accountant).

Your support system, at least in hip hop, was the Diggin' in the Crates Crew that you were both members of. Whatever you read in the book or listened to in the audio, you're going to get that visually like nothing else.

Bushra Rehman’s New Novel Is a Coming-of-Age Gem About Growing Up Queer and Muslim in America Author, poet, and activist Bushra Rehman’s “Roses, In The Mouth of a Lion” is an autofiction exploration of finding your family—and your true self. With the exception of tight, tight family and friends, the ones you know love you without condition, you can only hope your other loved ones love you the same as you love them. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor.You going to feel like you were at that spot in the book and be like, "Wow, they created it visually.

His family means so much to him and you can see that when he talks about his wife, kids, and immediate family. As a self proclaimed hip hop head I loved all the behind the scenes stories and I agree with him that Fat Joe the artist is severely underrated. RASCOE: I mean, you talk about the regret because it's like, what do you feel like - 'cause like you said, you bullied people - good people and bad people. Fat Joe's career spans three decades – but before he was performing on stages around the world, he was a little kid getting bullied in the Bronx. To honor the wishes of your former manager, Chris Lighty, after his passing, you also resolved conflict with another rival, 50 Cent.Rapper Fat Joe debuts with an unflinching portrait of his rise to fame set against the backdrop of 1970s and ’80s New York City. It gave him issues trusting people because if his close friends could betray him in the blink of an eye why wouldn't anyone else? Q: You explore a lot of traumatic events in your life, including losing friends to gun violence, bullying, domestic violence, police brutality and coping with depression.