It’s been a controversial few weeks for Joe Rogan, who has been called out by many for spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on his popular Spotify podcast and his repeated use of the “N-word” on the show.
Among those addressing their concerns with the host—besides the several musicians such as Neil Young who have opted to pull their music from the streaming platform—is New York legend Fat Joe, who recently posted a video where he called Rogan a “piece of shit,” per HotNewHipHop.
“Shoutout to everyone that’s better than me and taking their music off of Spotify, I’m not,” Fat Joe shared. “Because all my people people know [I’ll] do charity, [I] will open a business in the hood and give out jobs, [I] will give computers to the school, but [I] got to get to [my] bag. [I] ain’t crazy. I’m not taking my music off Spotify but, Spotify is made up of Black music, whether it’s R&B, whether it’s rap, trap, reggaeton, all that fall in there. Because our music is on that platform, and they make their money from Black people, do you think it should be allowed for a guy to be talking racist shit on their platform?”
Some social media users have since used the opportunity to bring up that the MC, who is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, has used the n-word.
Fat Joe has previously addressed such concerns, telling listeners back in a 2019 interview on 92.3’s The Real with DJ Hed and Bootleg Kev that “people who want to look at things with racist eyes [and] a racist view” were the ones who were upset with his use of the word, per BET. He added that he treats “Black people and Latinos the same way, 100 percent. I treat them all the same way.”
“My thing is, when you say ‘You’re Latino. Why you using the N-word?,’ are you calling me racist for using it,” Joe asked at the time. “Like, do you think I’m racist for using it? The way the N-word offends me is when someone says it in a racial way [and] we feel like somebody’s trying to call us a n---a. So, now you looking at me with racist eyes when all I do is for my culture, my people?”
Earlier this week, Rogan said he felt “relief” when the viral video of him saying the n-word several times started making the rounds online. “That video had always been out there,” the podcaster said. “This is a political hit job. They’re taking all this stuff I’ve ever said that’s wrong and smushing it all together. It’s good because it makes me address some stuff that I really wish wasn’t out there.”
