Fat Joe Receives Key to New York City From Mayor Eric Adams: ‘I Gotta Thank the Pioneers’

Fat Joe reps New York about as hard as any rapper in the game, and the city returned the favor on Tuesday night (Aug. 20) when the 54-year-old received a key to New York City.

Joey Crack was performing at the Up NYC concert at Orchard Beach’s in his hometown of the Bronx when Mayor Eric Adams surprised him on stage with the Key to the City. Adams gave Joe his flowers for everything from his music to his philanthropic endeavors.

“Fat Joe who’s getting the Key to the City of New York. All his legendary — his music, a real brother, authentic — we want to give you this key,” he said.

The musician then grabbed the mic and proceeded to show love to the rap pioneers who paved the way before him.

“Shout-out my wife, my daughter, shout-out my favorite aunt in the world. I gotta thank the pioneers. From Melle Mel, Mr. Ness to KRS-One — my whole life I been trying to be KRS-One — LL Cool J, Heavy D and the list goes on,” he said. “I want to shout out everybody here because we in the Bronx and I know I know all of you. Every last one of you, I know you — I love you.”

Continuing a celebratory birthday week, Joe had Mayor Adams step to the side before getting into performing some of his hits, including his Billboard Hot 100-topping “Lean Back” and “My Lifestyle.”

2024 is shaping up to be another busy year for Fat Joe. He parlayed his Instagram Live debates into a Starz talk show, which will be executive produced by LeBron James and himself.

Joe picked up a tennis racket and will also serve as the voice of the upcoming 2024 U.S. Open tournament kicking off next week in Flushing, Queens. Earlier this year, Fat Joe performed at President Joe Biden’s rally in North Carolina and he also received an honorary doctorate degree from Lehman College.

On the music side, he returned with frequent collaborators Remy Ma and Cool & Dre for their “Outta Control” single in July.

Find more highlights below.

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