Key Takeaways
- Fat Joe declared, "I am Black" and called himself "the Blackest" while defending his place in hip-hop on The Joe Budden Podcast.
- The Puerto Rican and Cuban rapper cited his Bronx upbringing near Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel, adding that his late brother carried Flash's vinyl crates.
- His comments continue years of debate over his claims about Latino contributions to hip-hop and his use of the N-word.
Fat Joe has discussed his identity once again, stating that although he's Puerto Rican and Cuban, he considers himself not just Black, but "the Blackest."
Appearing on the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the Bronx rapper was asked by co-host Emanny about a position he's held for years. "You had a very strong opinion on, 'Yo, this is my culture, too,'" Emanny said to Fat Joe. "Do you feel like there was any point where you were wrong in what you represented?"
Joey Crack dismissed the question immediately, seemingly a little irate. "Are you crazy? This is a no-brainer," he said. "I grew up in hip-hop, where they invented hip-hop."
He continued: "Guys, I don't know if you can fathom that I'm from the block that invented hip-hop. Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash... The girls who used to babysit me, they invented, 'Let me hear you say, oooo!' That's Grandmaster Flash. I grew up with Melle Mel right outside the window playing basketball."
He went further, citing his late brother's direct ties to hip-hop's founding figures. "My brother used to carry the crates of vinyl from Grandmaster Flash," he said, adding that Melle Mel eventually gave an interview vouching for him, saying, "Yo, Joey's from here. I don't know what y'all talking about."
Fat Joe eventually turned his attention to Joe Budden, who he said previously spoke about Joe's relationship to Blackness. "Fat Joe is the Blackest n***a you ever seen in your life," he said. "Go look it up."
Fat Joe was raised in Forest Houses, a public housing project in the Morrisania section of the Bronx, blocks from where hip-hop took root in the early 1970s.
The latest salvo fits a pattern stretching back years. In August 2022, Fat Joe ignited wide debate after saying on Instagram Live that hip-hop began "half and half" between Latinos and Black artists, and stood firm when critics pushed back.
In June 2023, he defended his use of the N-word on Talib Kweli's podcast. "Explaining it to people at this point is like, mind-boggling to me, 'cause it's been like, 'What’s up, Fat Joe? You my n***a!' since I was 2 years old. You taking it offensive, then what do I look like, a slave owner to you? Or do I look like the cop who killed George Floyd?
"I gotta think about you. 'Cause you obviously know that you just said I’m the most important piece of hip-hop. You obviously know I'm with Black people all day. I fight for Black people; I fight for Latinos every day of my life," Fat Joe said.
