It's hard to imagine these days, but at the height of their careers in the 2000s, Jay-Z and Fat Joe did not get along well. Their rivalry stemmed from a basketball game that Joe's team won via forfeit, and that he boasted about on his hit "Lean Back." Moreover, they didn't make up for years after, and the Terror Squad rapper recently reflected on how this beef actually ended up pushing him out of a lot of profit opportunities. After all, Hov is a business, man, and going against him even before his richest peaks meant that the industry was going to look at you sideways. While speaking to Rap Radar, Joey Crack explained how this feud got in the way of his cashflow- and how much better things are now.
"I learned the hard way, I never complained and I never said it publicly but you know I had beef with 50 Cent and Jay-Z,” Fat Joe said at the 53:47 mark of the video below. “The two most f***ing powerful dudes in the world. Reebok was gonna give me a sneaker deal and they [were like], ‘Oh you have beef with Ja7-Z and 50 Cent.’ Jordan too, ‘We can’t give you the deal.’ You know how much money, s**t was like an embargo."
Read More: Fat Joe Says Which Jay-Z Bar Is The “Hardest Lyric In Hip-Hop”
Fat Joe's Rap Radar Appearance
Furthermore, he related this point to Melle Mel dissing Eminem, which he talked to the Grandmaster about and related it to his relationship with Mayor. "I’m not saying purposefully they was doing it, but Mayor’s not doing a deal with you if you got beef with Fat Joe,” the 53-year-old added. “So that’s the whole point I try to teach [Melle Mel] from my mistake. I said, ‘Yo bro, you don’t wanna diss him.' What I’m saying is don’t block your blessings."
Meanwhile, now Joe appreciates his bond with Jay so much that he left Drake off their remix of "All The Way Up" because of it. In another interview with Math Hoffa, he also remarked that things picked up for him financially when they squashed their beef. "I ain’t going lie, ever since I started f***ing with Jay-Z, I’ve been getting paid," he stated. For more news and the latest updates on Jay-Z and Fat Joe, come back to HNHH.
Read More: Fat Joe Reveals Collab With Jay-Z Scrapped Due To NFL Diss
