300 Brolic: A History of Fat Joe's (Alleged) Altercations
Not for nothing, but Fat Joe's original rap name was Fat Joe da Gangsta. Although he changed his name in 1995, there's a very good reason why he originally had the last part. Simply put, Joey Crack has had his fair share of...let's call them less-than-friendly physical altercations. With his new album, The Darkside Vol. 1, in stores today, we decided to take a look back at a few of our favorite Fat Joe throwdowns with 300 Brolic: A History of Fat Joe's (Alleged) Altercations. Crack! Crack! Crack!
Masta Ace (1995)
What happened? In an 1995 interview with ego trip, Fat Joe said he wanted to put Masta Ace in the yoke because he felt Ace was dickriding the West Coast. Ace responded in kind on the diss track "Top Ten List" saying, "Real gangstas don't talk shit in magazines." What occurred afterwards has never been confirmed, but there's always been whispers that Joey ran up on Ace at a charity event later and actually yoked him up just like he said he would.
Complex says: Oh, flip cams, why couldn't you have been invented 20 years ago? Do you have any idea how many
Jay-Z (1998)
What happened? Fat Joe and Jay-Z have a storied history. Their beef goes all the way back to the late
Assault Charge (1998)
What happened? In 1998, Big Pun and Fat Joe were both arrested and charged with robbery and assault. The story was Pun and Crack put the baseball bat to some dude's head in the Bronx and juxed his gold chain. Joe claimed it was all a case of mistaken identity and it must have been true since nothing came of the charge.
Complex says: See, this is why people are always saying the NYPD unfairly targets rappers. Seriously, you're telling us that Fat Joe and Big Pun ran off with some dude's chain? Riiight. But still, Joe gets credit
Cuban Link (2001 & 2003)
What happened? After Big Pun died, Fat Joe and Cuban Link slowly stopped being friends and became bitter enemies. According to Link, when he was trying to break up a fight between Joe and Sunkiss at Jimmy's Bronx Cafe in the Bronx in the spring of 2001, Joey suddenly punched him in the face. Afterwards, someone else came from behind and sliced Cuban Link's face. But the beef wouldn't end there. The two had another brawl down in Miami in 2003.
Complex says: Link has plenty of reasons to be bitter, but the main reason is because Joe still managed to make our The 25 Best Songs Of 2010 (So Far) list, while his career is in St. Elsewhere.
Alize Richburg (2002)
What happened? In 2002, Joey was profiled in VIBE magazine while on the road in Atlanta. Joe was playing a show at Kaya Club & Bistro and the club promoter who booked Joe, Alize Richburg, was acting funny with the money. It didn't help that Alize was rocking a chocolate mink, which isn't exactly tough-guy wear. Anyhow, the story goes that after his manager couldn't work things out himself, Joey took Alize for a walk outside. He later told VIBE that he told the promoter, "That's a nice mink you got on...you might have to run that." There weren't any problems after that. Gangsta!
Complex says: Industry rule #4080: Record company people are shady. Industry rule #80: Club promoters are shady. Industry rule #20: Don't fuck with Fat Joe's money.
Charged With Assault, Again (2002)
What happened? It was deja vu all over again when Fat Joe was arrested for assault in 2002. According to police, Fat Joe and an accomplice got into an altercation with a man at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, which resulted in Joe rocking dude's jaw. Although Joe confirmed an altercation had occurred that night, he claimed he walked out when shit popped off and had had nothing to do with it. A short while later, the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Complex says: Not only did Joe beat two assault charges, he's also been named as a witness in two different murder cases, and has yet to serve a day in jail because of any of those cases. If you ask us, by the looks of it, Don Cartagena is rap's true Teflon Don.
50 Cent (2005)
What happened? 50 took offense to Joe working with Ja Rule on a song, so he dissed Cooked Coke Crack on "Piggy Bank." A lyrical beef ensued, but the two never seemed to run into each other...until the 2005 MTV VMAs. According to Joe, 50 taunted him by giving pounds to Jay-Z and Diddy while Joe was just a few feet away. Then in a seemingly spontaneous move, before introducing a number of reggaeton artists, Joe thanked G-Unit for bringing a ton of police with them while 50 and company were sitting just a few feet away. Later on, when 50 performed on stage he called Fat Joe a "pussy."
Complex says: Sure, there wasn't any real throwdown, but the fact that Joey even said what he did means he's got Suge Knight's tendency for beef.
Roy Jones (2005)
What happened? After Roy Jones suffered a series of disappointing losses in 2004 and 2005, Joey poked fun at the former-champ on Ja Rule's "New York" by spitting that "even Roy Jones was forced to lean back!" At the release party for Ja Rule's album R.U.L.E. at club Exit in New York, Jones stepped to Joe and, according to Ed Lover, Joe told Jones, "You were forced to lean back. Twice." And Jones left without saying a word. But a few days later, Joe claimed that he and Jones had squashed their beef.
Complex says: Although he and Joe aren't in the same weight class, Roy Jones is still dangerous with his hands. The fact that Jones was in Joe's face after millions of people heard Joe dis him and still chose not to throw a punch says a lot about Joe's gangsta.
