Fat Joe Is the Last "Un-Gentrified MC"

“I don't know how people get wack,” Fat Joe says, sounding genuinely concerned for his fellow elder statesman in rap. “Back in the days, I used to look at other rappers like Martians, they were so phenomenal and incredible that I never thought in my life I could make music that ever compared.”

Last month, Joe released his latest album, The World Changed On Me. It’s his first solo endeavour in almost 15 years. The album finds the veteran MC battling the wackness that he feels like encroaches on artists from his generation. The album is partially inspired by the success Killer Mike had last year, winning three Grammys for his 2023 album, Michael. “When Killer Mike won, I said, ‘Oh shit, they want to give it to the real, let's go,’” Joe told Complex. It was at that point he called up the producer duo Cool & Dre to get back into the lab and cook up his next body of work.

Fat Joe never left the public eye, though, even after he stopped releasing solo albums. His 2017 collaborative project with Remy Ma, Plata O Plomo, featured their multi-platinum record “All The Way Up,” a song that dominated the New York City airwaves for a summer. And then when COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, Joe pivoted; he figured out how to use social media and started monetizing off of apps like Instagram.

“I refused to get on Instagram for four years, and then COVID comes,” he said. “I'm stranded in the house, and the worst thing that could ever happen to an enemy of mine happened. I was forced to figure out social media and they was like, ‘Holy shit, this is fucked up. This guy figured this thing out. It's over now.’”

Now, Fat Joe is re-entering the rap game as a solo artist. The title of the album—The World Changed On Me—is inspired by Joe feeling like he’s the “last ungenetrified MC.” He is one of the few rappers of his generation that can still hang with the young cats without having to rap like the young cats. You can hear the patented Fat Joe cadence meshing with more modern-sounding beats that utilize more snares and soul samples on “Fresh” and “Dog Food.”

That combination works on some places on the album, and flounders in others, like on “Mini Burki” where Joe sounds like he’s doing his best French Montana impression, adlibs and all. But even when Joe reminds us that he’s in his mid-50s during some points of the album, The World Changed On Me never sounds like the rapper is trying to change his sound to appeal to the kids.

“Most of the times, our OGs fall off,” Joe says. “And so when I'm giving you the music and you listening to it, you going to listen to it like, ‘Oh shit, why does Fat Joe know what the fuck's going on right now?’ The shit I'm saying is relevant right now, popping right now, talking that shit you want to talk right now. And I ain't never seen that before in the past.”

We caught up with Fat Joe to talk about his latest album, The World Changed on Me, why he’s confused with the current New York sound, how Drake and Kendrick Lamar will peace things up, and more.

What’s the biggest trend that you think you helped start that you don’t get enough credit for?

I really don't know. DJ Clark Kent has always been on his shit, but as a rapper, I'm definitely the first to be a sneaker collector like that. I throw the shit on every day. I never have a day off. So you might have some rappers that dress nice, or you think they dress nice, but they wearing Zara with one fly piece on.

The [phrase] “Make it rain.” I created that when I made the song. Just a lot of shit. I feel like I don't get the credit I deserve. I feel that the day Fat Joe dies, my family will finally understand my contributions to the game. I've done everything in hip-hop. I've written graffiti, I break dance, I rap. I'm a hit-maker. I make movies. I got TV shows. I coach street basketball. I think I'm right behind Spike Lee as the No. 1 Knick fan. I got so much shit I could tell you about. I feel like I'm on the right side of history as far as standing up for Kamala [Harris]. Standing up for women in general.

Why did now feel like the right time to drop your new studio album after not dropping a solo project in over a decade?

Killer Mike won the Grammy and inspired me. I was nominated for about six Grammys. It's the only thing I never won. And when I saw Killer Mike win, I felt like it was possible. It's possible to win a Grammy, and so the next day, I called Cool and Dre and I said, “Yo, let's get busy.” I personally didn't believe that I was ever going to rap again like that, especially a solo album. I didn't notice the last two albums, I was with Dre and with Remy [Ma].

Do you think it's possible to actually retire as a rapper, though?

I'm the best. So what do you want me to tell you? Have you heard my album? You heard the flows, you heard the music, you heard the beat, you heard everything. I'm the best.

I left [the studio] alone for three, four years. And then finally, when Killer Mike won, I said, “Oh shit, they want to give it to the real, let's go.” For many years, the Grammys wasn't giving it to the real at all. If you went on the Grammy red carpet, it was like 99% white press, and they had two BET people in the corner for Black press. It's over after that. The weirdest things have happened at the Grammys, like Chance the Rapper beating Remy Ma and Fat Joe for the Grammy or the Black Eyed Peas beating us before they had Fergie. They've been disrespecting us like a cigarette. But Killer Mike got it, Nas got it before that, we ready.

What new things do you still learn in the music-making process this deep in the game?

I was comfortable. It's like when you on rap time, you're chasing hits. If you notice your favorite rappers, and they keep throwing out projects, they trying to catch a hit. When you on a record label, they're forcing you to come out at a certain time. So as soon as I announced to Dre that I was un-retired, we were the only ones that knew. So I went up in there, I made a song. Then I went back a month later, made a song, then I went back, made two songs. And then before we knew it, we was like, “Holy shit, we got an album.” When you don’t have that type of pressure and nobody's expecting it, then it ain't like, “Ah, what we got to do?” You aren’t in the pressure cooker. For me, I did it for art. I don't want to sound disrespectful, but I don't care if [the album] makes a dollar or a hundred million. I just did it for my fans. I did it for the art, I did it for the culture. I really don't care.

You’re also one of the OGs who’s maintained a presence in the culture without having to release music.

The biggest in the game. Viral-mania. People die, they hang off a building to go viral. I go viral every time I talk. In fact, I stopped talking. I turned off my Instagram because every time I talk, I’m viral. I'm the last un-gentrified MC. That means I run the bodega on the block, and the whole neighborhood is changing.

When I do my album and I play it for my daughter, who's 18, she's like, “Yo dad, what the fuck you talking about? You old, what are you saying?” And I'm like, “Old?” I don't want to hear a brand new Ice Cube album if he don't say “fuck the police.” I want to hear that shit. LL Cool J says he's the most important artist in the world. So when he drops an album, to us, it's like he's U2, he's Bono, he’s The Rolling Stones. So I like to think of myself in that area.

I encourage the youth, but some of the shit they doing, I just don't know what it is. I'm just really confused. I've sat in traffic with the youth, and I felt like they playing devil music right next to me. I'm like, “Yo, what the fuck? That's hip-hop?” They got some weird shit going.

I'm just saying that I don't know how they spiraled into this particular sound. Hip-hop is so diverse. We got Lauryn Hill, we got Biz Markie, you got Eric B and Rakim. You got Nas, you got Snoop Dogg and [Dr.] Dre, you got [The] Game, it's just a variety. You're not going to open the shit and hear the same shit. And then sometimes when I'm listening, especially in New York youth, let's just go there. I'm hearing the same shit. It’s just the same beat, the same shit, and I'm like numb.

Where do you find the joy and the challenge in the music-making process these days?

I don't smoke and I don't drink. The only way I get high is off of success. Right now, I got every reason in the world to be sad. Lost about seven friends in the last two months. It's un-fucking real, but I find joy in the fact that I'm putting out a new project. Somebody who really fucks with Fat Joe gets to hear Fat Joe in 2025. Most of the times, our OGs fall off. And so when I'm giving you the music and you listening to it, you going to listen to it like, “Oh shit, why does Fat Joe know what the fuck's going on right now?” The shit I'm saying is relevant right now, popping right now, talking that shit you want to talk right now. And I ain't never seen that before in the past.

What do you think is the secret to longevity in rap?

I don't know how people get wack. That's just the problem. When I hear an artist get wack, I just don't get it. I'm like, “Yo, this guy was so nice. He sold 20 million, 40 million records. This guy was the greatest. I remember when he was a Martian.” Back in the days, I used to look at other rappers like Martians, they were so phenomenal and incredible that I never thought in my life I could make music that could ever be compared. So now when they drop their projects and all that, and I compare it to the shit I drop, I'm like, “Yo, I guess no one's going to admit it but me.” I don't know if y'all going to hear the difference, but this shit ain't the same. And one thing I picked up from Kanye [West] is if you don't say it yourself or declare it yourself, ain't nobody going to say it for you. We live in that type of time. And hip hop is young, so some people don't realize that certain shit going on ain't normal. The shit we doing ain’t normal.

We ain't normal. And when you say that, if you don't say it for yourself or do for yourself, it won't be set for you.

That sentiment reminds me when you said “for an older artist to be relevant on social media is nearly impossible.”

Yeah, it's not for us. Imagine if Fat Joe was 25, I have 150, 200 million followers right now. It's not even made for guys like me to understand. We were fucking playing cassettes and vinyls. I've seen OGs that, I'm going to tell you the truth, guys who caught fed cases four times, the biggest killer, get on IG and look like fucking clowns. Like, “Yo OG please! Somebody tell him to stop.” What happened to me was I had a Blackberry when Instagram started. I refused to get on Instagram for four years, and then COVID comes. I'm stranded in the house, and the worst thing that could ever happen to an enemy of mine happened. I was forced to figure out social media and they was like, “Holy shit, this is fucked up. This guy figured this thing out. It's over now.” Because it's on steroids and it's free.

Who do you think was the MVP of rap in 2024?

Kendrick Lamar and Glorilla. They both stepped it up this year on another level, and whether I like it or not, it is what it is. He set the trend, and she's on fire. And it couldn't happen for a nicer person. [Glorilla] is really beautiful people, so she got that. MVP of just life is Usher. Super Bowl, tour, singing to everybody's wife. That's why you got to stick around. You never know. Usher was only getting played on the Urban Contemporary Station. He was put in that category and he fucked them up. He came with that tour, and then the Super Bowl broke every record in the world. He might be the MVP of everything.

If you and 50 could peace it up, do you think Drake and Kendrick could ever get to that point of peacing it up too?

They can peace it up. It'll take some time, but they could peace it up. There's no violence involved that I know of. Man, look at me and 50 Cent. Those guys might make a business together in the future. As long as there's no violence. Once you have violence, then you got an obligation to your morals and your crew's morals. Your crew ain't going to respect you if you got violence with somebody, somebody take the L, and then you want to get cool with 'em? That's not going to happen. If there’s no violence, definitely. They're both great guys. I never thought I would be cool with 50 Cent.