Fat Joe

Fat Joe Says Weight Loss Is 'All About Education'

11 Jan 2012 12:25:57 EST

'I used to watch Oprah Winfrey, and whenever she used to lose weight, I used to be like, 'How's she losing it?' ' Joe tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman

Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

If Fat Joe can lose weight, anyone can. That's the message the Terror Squad rapper wants to send to all of his fans. There was a time when Joey Crack weighed as much as 430 pounds, but after employing a regiment of heavy dieting and exercise, the rotund rapper has been steadily dropping weight for over a year. Now, he is down to 263 pounds, he said, and his lifestyle change has already inspired others. "I was at a party New Year's Eve and, no lie, at least 10 different people came up to me. One guy was like, 'I lost 30 pounds because of you,' " Fat Joe told MTV News last week. "So people just coming up to me, I don't know these people — random people. And if Fat Joe lost that weight and I was 'Juan,' I'd lose that weight [too]."

Joe has provided a ton of inspiration, just as he was inspired by another. "I used to watch Oprah Winfrey, and whenever she used to lose weight, I used to be like, 'How's she losing it? What is she doing?' " he said. "But it's all about education and knowledge, feeding yourself and knowing that too much carbs is what gets us fat." The rapper is urging anyone that wants to lose weight to exercise more and put down high-carb foods like rice, pasta, potatoes and bread. "The more we can lay off of that, the more healthier we'll be. And when we do eat it, let's eat it in smaller [portions]," he encouraged. "The 'hood don't really wanna hear it, but you need brown rice, you need wheat bread, stuff like that." Now the "Lean Back" rapper has become an unofficial spokesman for health in hip-hop. On January 23, he will perform at a concert in New Jersey that celebrates winners from Let's Move! Newark: Our Power, a program designed to fight childhood obesity. What do you think of Fat Joe's weight loss? Let us know in the comments!

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Fat Joe's Darkside II 'Most Controversial' Mixtape Out

10 Jan 2012 14:48:35 EST

'Right now, it seems that gangsta rap is extinct, so I give you that free,' Joe Crack tells Mixtape Daily.
By Rob Markman

Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

Don't Sleep: Necessary Notables
Mixtape: The Darkside, Vol. II Headliner: Fat Joe Key Cameo: "Pushing Keys," featuring Raekwon Essential Info: In rap, it's important to be multifaceted, feeding fans radio hits while maintaining close ties to the streets. It's a balancing act that Fat Joe has mastered throughout his career, most recently with the release of his super-catchy single "Another Round" (with Chris Brown) and his murderous mixtape The Darkside, Vol. II.

"I'm a grown guy, I'm a grown man, so for me, I don't have no problem touching that sexy stuff — and I do everything," Joe told Mixtape Daily last week. "I might have the most controversial, the most hard-core mixtape out: Darkside II out right now online; [if] you want that real hip-hop, go get it." When the Bronx, New York, rap titan first emerged on the scene in 1993 with his debut album, Represent, his official moniker was Fat Joe da Gangsta. By the time his sophomore record came out two years later, he'd simplified his name, going by Fat Joe. Still, he's always maintained a hard edge. "Right now, it seems that gangsta rap is extinct, so I give you that [music] free. I give you The Darkside II, it's better than some people's albums," Joe boasted. "It's that hard, you might hear that and be like, 'Damn.' I give it all: I do songs for the ladies, I do big songs and I touch the streets at the same time, so I feed everybody." "Another Round" should provide Joe with ample radio play and visibility as he promotes his upcoming 11th album, while Darkside II will keep Crack cemented in the streets. Starting out with the French Montana-assisted "Welcome to the Darkside," Cook Coke Crack sets off his verbal murder spree in grand fashion and doesn't let up. Jadakiss rides shotgun on "Dope Man," a gangsta's reworking of the Beatles' classic "Yesterday." There's no shortage of hard-core rap joints either. Even on the sweet-sounding "Angels Say," Joe spits about John Gotti and late-night gunfights over Mark Henry's soulful production. Through it all, Fat Joe has managed to keep his integrity as an artist, and for him, that's the most important thing. "I don't really get no flack, no backlash, like, 'Damn, Joe, you doin' a joint for the girls?' I never really get that." For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Chris Brown Is The Male Beyonce, Fat Joe Says

09 Jan 2012 16:42:43 EST

'You know, he's a sex symbol,' Joe Crack tells MTV News.
By Rob Markman

Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

When it comes to Fat Joe's "Another Round" collaborator, Chris Brown, the Bronx MC holds the singer to a high standard. Breezy doesn't just bring his soulful vocals and soothing melodies to Joe's track, his appearance in the Colin Tilley-directed video also provides some eye candy for the ladies. "You know, that guy, he's like the 'guy Beyoncé,' " Joe joked to MTV News last week. In the clip, CB and a slimmed-down Joe Crack serenade a number of bikini-clad beauties on a golden beach. "Don't you be holding back your love," Breezy sings on the hook before assuring his lady that after making love with him she's sure to want "another round."

Brown really gets into it on the song's bridge and final hook. The blond (again) lothario splashes around in the ocean, tearing off his shirt as he puts more emotion into his vocals. Joe likened Brown's performance in "Another Round" to Queen B's performance in her 2006 video for "Déjà Vu," where she runs through a cornfield while singing for her special someone. Like most Beyoncé videos, the visuals were particularly exciting to her male fanbase. Joe said Breezy's "Another Round" appearance has been evoking a similar reaction with the rapper's female following. "This guy takes his shirt off — I played it for a couple of chicks before we released it and they just start goin' crazy and buggin' out like, 'Oh my God, yo,' " Joe laughed. "You know, he's a sex symbol." Do you agree with Fat Joe comparing Chris Brown's sex appeal to Beyoncé's? Tell us in the comments!

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09 Jan 2012 09:05:23 EST

The MC talks about his latest video, 'Another Round,' his new mixtape, and rumors that he might be part of the Illuminati.
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Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

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Fat Joe Says Chris Brown Collabo Is 'Crazy'

22 Sep 2011 19:48:44 EDT

'We getting so sexy for the ladies on this album,' rapper tells Mixtape Daily.
By Rob Markman, with reporting by Steven Roberts

Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

The O.D.: Fat Joe Fat Joe's recent weight loss has the Bronx MC brimming with confidence. His last album, The Darkside Vol. 1, was a hard-nosed dedication to the streets led by his Jeezy collaboration "(Ha Ha) Slow Down."

For his next LP it isn't the Snowman who will lend the assist but Chris Brown. "We getting so sexy for the ladies on this album," the Don Cartagena told Mixtape Daily. "My first single that we're gonna drop in three weeks is me and Chris Brown, it's called 'Another Round.' It's crazy." The Terror Squad leader won't completely abandon the streets, however. "I got a joint with Maxwell on the album, I got a joint with John Legend and [Rick] Ross, we're straight talking to the ladies. Of course I'm gonna give you some bop, bop," he said. "I thug 'em out on the sexy songs, but we're talking to the ladies on this one." Through the years, Joe Crack has recorded hits with R. Kelly, Ashanti and Trey Songz. The rapper says that all of his collaborations begin with a feeling. "I will not collaborate or do a song with nobody unless I think it is a huge, huge event. I will not bother one of my friends," he said regarding his upcoming single with Chris Breezy, with whom he once toured Africa. To prove his point, Joe mentioned Mary J. Blige. While the two have been friends for years, Crack hasn't reached out for a feature. "I have been dying to do a song with Mary J. Blige; she hangs out in my house, she's family," he said. "But I would not approach her with a record unless it's a smash-hit event."

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Fat Joe Says Weight Loss 'Not Rocket Science'

22 Aug 2011 18:47:20 EDT

Attention since 'Drop a Body' video 'is crazy,' Joe tells MTV News.
By Steven Roberts

Fat Joe
Photo: MTV News

Fat Joe's video for "Drop a Body" was filled with volcanic eruptions, lightning and a mountain of dead bodies, but when the video dropped in June, Joe's appearance overshadowed all of that. A considerably slimmer Joe stood atop said mountain, raising eyebrows and the clip's number YouTube views. Joe said he was just as shocked by people's reactions to his weight loss, because he was just trying to save his life.

"I'm not trying to impress nobody or nothing like that," Joe told MTV News. "I'm just trying to get healthy so I can be here for my family and take care of my kids and live the life that was intended for me to live, so it was crazy when I started getting all this attention. Two weeks from now, CNN is coming to my house, Sanjay Gupta, a big special, and all this attention is crazy." Joe said he was 360 pounds when he started losing weight, and after finding himself at much-more-manageable 260 pounds a year later, he still wasn't satisfied. Initially, he wanted to lose weight because in the past year, several of his friends have lost their lives due to their weight. Joe recalled attending one of his friends' funerals and seeing himself in that position. He knew then it was time to make a change. "I went to my friend's funeral in the Bronx, and he was just the funniest, coolest dude on earth," Joe recalled. "He's got a daughter, she's the same age as my daughter, and it just felt like I was there, and I could just see my family in the funeral and I was like, 'Damn, he left his daughter, and she's only 5,' " he explained. "That was the wake-up call. Then I just jumped on that treadmill and started eating right. It's not rocket science: It's the same thing they keep telling you to do, you actually just have to do it." Joe said he always asked God why he continued to bless him, despite his past and him not being a perfect person. And then he realized his weight-loss battle might be his calling. He hopes that he can inspire others to do the same. "One of my boys lives in Detroit, he said he came out his building, he got two dudes that been the fattest dudes on the block forever, they have weights outside and was running around the block, and he was like, 'Yo, what's up?' and they were like, 'We on that Fat Joe wave!' "

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DJ Khaled Says Fat Joe's Weight Loss 'Inspired Him'

27 Jul 2011 15:14:52 EDT

'[It's] just more inspiration for him to make more hit records,' Khaled tells Mixtape Daily.
By Rob Markman

DJ Khaled
Photo: MTV News

Celebrity Favorites: DJ Khaled
"Fat" Joe is no more. The Bronx, New York, rapper has recently been dropping pounds like he drops hit records, losing more than 80 pounds to date. No word yet as to whether he will consider a name change, but his friend and frequent collaborator DJ Khaled is in full support and astonished by his buddy's new physique.

"Joe lost so much weight that I can't believe it," Khaled told Mixtape Daily. "I was just on the phone with him and he was like, 'Khaled I wear a 1X. I walk into Bal Harbour, go to Gucci and whatever.' " Shopping in the ritzy North Miami Beach neighborhood is not the only perk to being lighter. According to Khaled, Joe's diet has also reinvigorated his artistic muscle. "Now he goes into any store and buys a 1X. He said he feels the best he ever felt and he's back in the studio working," the We the Best Forever DJ said. "I think by him losing all this weight, it just inspired him, just more inspiration for him to make more hit records." Back in June, Joe revealed to the New York Daily News that he went on a diet following the deaths of a number of his close friends. "I always loved being fat, obviously. I'm Fat Joe," the rapper told the newspaper. "If I could gain 1,000 pounds and be healthy, I would love to do that. The biggest killer of people is food. It kills more people than AIDS or gun violence or war, anything you can name. "Everybody keep catching strokes and heart attacks, and what happened to me was, like seven of my friends passed last year from heart attacks, and they were all 32, 34 years old, 35. And I said, 'I got kids, I can't leave 'em like that.' This world is too hard for me to leave my kids, without me supervising and being there for them." For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Ron Artest Talks Ball'n On Mixtape With Nas, Fat Joe

11 Apr 2011 16:43:32 EDT

Laker tells Mixtape Daily about dropping release with new sneaker.
By Alvin Blanco, with reporting by Matt Elias

Ron Artest
Photo: AMG

Mixtape Daily Main Pick -- Ball Player with Bars: Ron Artest Holding it Down For: Queensbridge, New York Mixtape: Ball'n Real Spit: When he's not busy chasing around the opposing team's best offensive players, Ron Artest of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers passes the time by picking up the mic. Back in 2006, Artest released his debut album, My World, and has been releasing mixtapes ever since.

Last year, the Queensbridge, New York, native was endorsing sneakers by Chinese brand Peak. But after connecting with upstart shoe company Ball'n at a summer basketball tournament it was sponsoring, he signed on as an endorser. What better way to launch his new sneaker than a mixtape, right? "I was like, 'Wow, we should have the mixtape come out with the shoe.' The shoe came out All-Star Weekend," Artest told Mixtape Daily. "A couple of weeks before that, we had the mixtape come out the same day as the shoe. So we was just having fun with the whole idea of music and basketball. You know athletes like to be rappers; I'm actually doing both, so it's cool." Artest's A&R skills might be on par with his talents on the court. The basketball player turned rapper locked in a who's who of guests for his latest DJ Felli Fel mixtape including WC, Fat Joe, B-Real, Aventura, George Lopez (yes, the comedian), Paul Wall, Chamillionaire, Nas, Ray J, Jim Jones, Kia Shine and Chet Haze (Tom Hanks' son). Artest's own artists, such as Xin Xin, Rina C and Sheff La, also make appearances. "I don't call it features, I call it blessings 'cause it's my biggest mixtape I've ever done," Artest said of his guests. "I didn't realize I would have this many features on the mixtape." Joints to Check For
» "Who I Am" - "Nas, he grew up 200 feet from me; he's like an older brother," Artest said. "I looked up to him playing basketball. Nas, when he was becoming a major success, I was a young kid like, 'Wow.' Him, Mobb Deep, I wanted to be successful. I want to make sure I pushed myself in basketball to be just like them. Eventually, the music just rubbed off on me. Nas sent me the track and then I put my artist [Xin Xin] on the track. I wanted to get on the track, but I didn't want to mess it up. Nas is a lyricist, one of the best. I didn't know what can I say that can possibly make sense on a Nas track. So I said, 'OK.' I let my artist Xin, who's a really good talent, I let her just sing some harmonies on the track, and people actually like her voice." » "On That New Sh--" - "The WC one is the one I'm most excited about, featuring D&D and Sheff La, produced by Q Made the Beat," Artest said. "My producer didn't want that beat. I said, 'Nah, the beat is hot,' so I sent it to Dub-C. He said, 'What y'all want the song to be about?' I said, 'Nah, let's just freestyle.' We started with a WC freestyle, a beat that my producer didn't want, to the song turning out crazy. We did the hook around WC. I laid the verse. Sheff La laid the verse." »"Go Loco" - "Obviously, Fat Joe, he's single king, he always come with a hit, so you want to get that atmosphere in the club," Artest said of the video for "Go Loco." "So, when people hear the record in the club, they already know what it is. Do what you gotta do, get in the zone in the club, have fun, party to the music. [Tiffany Zavala] is a dancer, so her part is going to be a little bit different from everybody else's part. She sings, dances, ya know, pop. Fat Joe is straight hip-hop. B-Real: straight hip-hop. Myself, I don't know what I am. I'm just a basketball player who likes to rap. And then you got Aventura: straight bachata, Latino. Then you also have Down; he's not going to be on the radio edit because the song was so long, but Down had 'Lean Like a Cholo,' a big record on the West Coast. So everybody had different aspects." For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

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Tony Yayo Says 50 Cent's Beef With Fat Joe Is 'My Problem' Too

23 Sep 2010 21:08:30 EDT

'If you really dislike 50, then you really dislike Yayo,' he says on 'RapFix Live.'
By Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Sway Calloway

Tony Yayo
Photo: Jonathan Goldner/MTV News

Tony Yayo wants to make it clear how the beef between 50 Cent and Fat Joe spills over to the rest of the G-Unit crew: "I didn't have a problem with Fat Joe; 50 did," Yayo explained Thursday (September 23) on "RapFix Live." "So now it's my problem."

Fat Joe and 50 Cent have been trading barbs in rhyme and during interviews for years now. When the Terror Squad lyricist appeared on "RapFix Live" last month, he said there's little chance the dispute with Fif could end peacefully. "The day 50 Cent want to lock up with me in a bathroom and do this like men, we can hug each other and keep it moving the day after that," Joe said, referring to a one-on-one fight. Yayo, however, dismissed Joe's notion. The G-Unit soldier said the idea of a straight-up battle is unheard of in his Queens, New York, neighborhood and said he'd jump into a fight with 50 against Fat Joe. "Where I'm from, there's no such thing as a fair one," he explained. "If that man is fighting, you fighting too. That's just how it is. Like [Joe] said, he don't know where [the beef] started from. Whatever beef 50 got with him, that's his issue. But 50 is my homie, and it is what it is." When asked if the issue between 50 and Joe could exist solely between the two men, Yayo didn't think so. "If you really dislike 50, then you really dislike Yayo," he said. " 'Cause anybody that doesn't like 50 isn't gonna like Yayo. There goes the answer right there. If I see you, you see me, something might potentially happen." What do you think about the ongoing beef between 50 Cent and Fat Joe? Share your thoughts in the comments.

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