Fat Joe is of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent, and his white skin has made him a frequent target of hip-hop fans who think he shouldn't say the N-word or even represent the culture. But he has always defended his place and argued in favor of his cultural immersion and connection as a Bronx native among Black and Latino communities. During a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, Emanny and Joe asked the Organized Rhyme MC about this debate.
"You had a very strong opinion on, 'Yo, this is my culture, too,'" Emanny remarked, as caught by CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE on Twitter. "'We also helped build it.' Do you feel like there was any point where you were wrong in what you represented?"
"Are you crazy? This is a no-brainer," Joey Crack expressed. "I grew up in hip-hop, where they invented hip-hop. 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. Why do I got to keep explaining this to these n***as? I'm there from hip-hop..."
Fat Joe On The Joe Budden Podcast
"My brother used to carry the crates of vinyl from Grandmaster Flash," he continued. "And when they said all that s**t and they kept doing all this weird s**t, I think it was Melle Mel who finally did an interview and was like, 'Yo, Joey's from here. I don't know what y'all talking about.' That was that. N***as ran to the mountaintops after. I don't understand. I was there. And so somebody's like, 'Fat Joe's so opinionated.' And you're going to start fabricating some s**t. You think I'm not going to defend what I know to be true? Us in the Bronx, and especially where I grew up... I grew up in Black... No, I am Black. Fat Joe is the Blackest n***a you ever seen in your life. Go look it up."
Elsewhere, Fat Joe is commenting on hip-hop's latest stories, including calling the trials of Keefe D and Lil Durk "s**t-shows."
