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Fat Joe claims he got a whiff of depression right when he hit the age of 40.
During the newest installment of Jadakiss & Joey’s “Joe and Jada” podcast, they spoke about growing up in Hip-Hop. Crack kept it real about turning 40 and how that made him feel, “I’ve been rapping, I’ve been in the game since 10. So, when I’m about to turn 40, all I know is standing on couches and popping bottles. But that 40 hit you different, like, I was depressed.”
The NY rapper is currently 55 years old, but recalled the time turning 40 and felt like he was at the tail end of his career. Adding that some of his peers doubted that anyone had commercial success after the age of 40. One MC had to get Crack back on track, and that person was Dre (from Cool & Dre). Letting the newly 40-year-old know a fun fact, telling him, “Joe, you know Tina Turner ain’t have her first hit till she was 47?”
This made Fat Joe put things in perspective that he can “Lean Back” and still be dropping hits in his 40s.
Before this episode of the “Joe and Jada” podcast, they had a recent clip that went viral where Joey recalled his first time meeting Bruno Mars. From his point of view, he was excited to meet the pop star and asked him if he was Puerto Rican. Right when he did that, Mars snapped, “F*ck you mean I’m real Puerto Rican from Bushwick, Brooklyn don’t ever ask sh*t in your life.”
Crack said that it broke his heart and promised he wasn’t trying to press him.
Earlier this summer, attorney Tyrone Blackburn, who is representing a man suing Fat Joe for unpaid royalties related to ghostwriting duties, was arrested for assaulting a process server in New York City. Now, the lawbreaking lawyer is facing the full force of the law related to the incident.
According to TMZ, Blackburn was officially indicted for allegedly running over a process server with his car this past May while he was attempting to serve Blackburn with papers related to his lawsuit against Fat Joe. Jumping in his car during the attempt, Blackburn allegedly jumped in his car and reversed into the 66-year-old process server, causing him extensive leg damage that apparently required surgery to repair.
While we don’t know what effect this will have on Blackburn’s case against Fat Joe, it certainly seems like he had no interest in receiving whatever papers said server was trying to get to him related to the case and now he’ll have to answer for his transgression in a court of law.
TMZ reports:
Blackburn represents Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, who sued Fat Joe for millions, alleging he helped Joe write music. Later on, Dixon and Blackburn filed another lawsuit accusing Joe of engaging in sexual relations with minors in a lawsuit Joe’s attorney Joe Tacopina said was full of “lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure.”
Tyrone was booked on assault about six weeks after the alleged incident is said to have taken place.
Naturally, Fat Joe is denying all of these allegations as he prepares to fight this case to the bitter end, but the question remains whether Dixon will remain on the case now that he has his own legal problems to deal with.
What do you think about this situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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In a turn of events, Fat Joe may be able to finally “Lean Back.”
Tyrone Blackburn was in the process of pursuing a lawsuit against Fat Joe, but that may be on hold after this news. He has been indicted for allegedly running over a process server in his car. According to TMZ, Blackburn has been indicted over this incident, which happened this year in May. He allegedly reversed and ran the process server over, which resulted in a knee injury that required surgery to fix.
Before this incident, Tyrone was representing Terrance “T.A.” Dixon on a case against Fat Joe. Where T.A. claimed to he contributed to writing some of Joey Crack’s music. As well as another lawsuit alleging that Joe had sexual relations with minors. The South Bronx legend’s attorney called cap on the allegations, “lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure.”
Crack has remained unbothered through all the bs and has been focused on his new podcast with Jadakiss. The “Joe and Jada” show has hit the ground running, featuring superstars like Cardi B, Ty Dolla Sign, NeYo, sitting on the couch with the two Hip-Hop MCs. The duo has recently announced an upcoming episode with platinum producer Hitmaka.
Joey has been showing his personality effortlessly on the new pod. His story of meeting Bruno Mars had fans crying, where he recalled asking the popstar if he’s Hispanic and getting a terrible response. This altered how he looked at Bruno after that.
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Fat Joe is being sued for $20 million by his former hypeman, who has lobbed a litany of sordid claims against the Bronx rapper. The lawsuitalleges that Joe, born Joseph Antonio Cartagena, participated in sex acts with several minors in their teens, amongst other wild claims.
As initially reported by Variety, Terrance “T.A.” Dixon filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York against the “Lean Back: rapper on Thursday, June 19. Dixon was reportedly Joe’s hypeman for over 15 years, giving him front row view of the illicit behavior he described in his 157-page lawsuit.
It’s worth noting that Dixon’s lawyer is Tyrone Blackburn, the same man who is representing Lil Rodney in his lawsuit againt Sean “Diddy” Combs, which also includes some explosive charges against the disgraced mogul. However, Blackburn has developed a rep for representing clients with over-the-top claims that aren’t necessarily credible.
But Dixon claims that over the years Fat Joe coerced him in over 4.000 sexuals acts to keep him in good “standing within the Enterprise. According to Dixon he was pressured “into humiliating situations, including sex acts performed under duress and surveillance, accompanied by threats of abandonment in foreign countries if [he] refused compliance.”
The most egregious claim in the lawsuit is its detailing of Fat Joe allegedly participating sex acts with three Jane Does—one 15-year-old and two 16-year-olds. Also included in the RICO-claiming lawsuit are longtime Fat Joe associates. Pete “Pistol Pete” Torres and Richard “Rich Player” Jospitre, as well as Roc Nation.
Dixon’s lawsuit arrives after he and Blackburn were sued by Fat Joe back in April for slander after alleging on social media that the rapper flew a 16-year-old girl across state lines to engage in sexual intercourse. Joe maintains that Dixon and Blackburn are basically trying to extort him, allegedly.
Fat Joe is being represented by Joe Tacopina, a criminal attorney who has become famed in Hip-Hop circles after representing A$AP Rocky, who acquitted of gun charges and who past clients include Meek Mill, and Donald Trump. In reponse to the lawsuit against Fat Joe, Tacopino told Variety, “The lawsuit filed by Tyrone Blackburn and Terrance Dixon is a blatant act of retaliation — a desperate attempt to deflect attention from the civil suit we filed first, which exposed their coordinated scheme to extort Mr. Cartagena through lies, threats, and manufactured allegations.”
Needless to say, the social media peanut gallery has been going off since news of the lawsuit broke.
This story is developing.
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Fat Joe is putting major respect on Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s name, saying they’re on the verge of becoming the greatest rapper/singer duo the game has ever seen.
Chopping it up on his Joe and Jada podcast, the Hip-Hop OG spoke on how the TDE heavyweights are making serious noise together. “What you don’t know is that they’re gonna be best friends and all that forever,” Joe said. “Right now, they got like six or seven joints. They number one. They could take the slot, 100%. They fire together.”
Crack even put them in the same convo as Ja Rule and Ashanti—one of the most iconic duos in the game—but made it clear Kendrick and SZA are on a different level ‘cause they both run things as solo stars. Their collab “Luther” is doing big numbers, breaking records left and right. It’s now the longest-running No. 1 hit by a co-billed solo male and female duo, beating out Diddy and Faith Evans’ ‘94 classic “I’ll Be Missing You.”
That’s not all—“Luther” is officially the biggest Hip Hop single of the decade, passing Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” which held it down for 11 weeks back in 2020. Only Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” has spent more time at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Fat Joe’s calling it early: if Kendrick and SZA keep this wave going, they might just lock in that GOAT duo status for real.
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If we’ve learned anything about the now classic Kendrick Lamar and Drake rap battle, it’s that claims of pedophilia can still ruin careers and reputations in this day and age, so when Fat Joe was accused of liking them young himself, he wasted no time filing a lawsuit to shut down any kind of pedo talk.
According to TMZ, the Don Cartegena just sued his former hypeman, Terrance “T.A.” Dixon, after Dixon took to social media and claimed that Fat Joe flew a 16-year-old across state lines in order to sleep with her. Immediately filing a lawsuit against Dixon, Joey Crack is claiming that Dixon’s allegation is a result of Dixon not getting paid some money he “didn’t earn” and has resorted to slander in order to even the score.
Per TMZ:
Joe’s legal counsel claims the allegations were made as part of a money grab generated by Dixon’s attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, who’s also representing Diddy accuser Lil Rodney in a separate case.
The lawsuit details how Joe and Dixon began working together in 2006, when Joe offered him a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to be part of his team … complete with compensation, luxurious travel, touring and other fringe benefits that accompany being in a superstar rapper’s inner circle.
Joe says the partnership ended amicably in 2019 and says he never heard any money complaints for 6 years, until Dixon began posting on social media with complaints he should have been paid more for his past work.
Fat Joe claims that back in March, Dixon hired Blackburn to represent him and sent him a letter demanding “compensation” as a ghostwriter for some of Fat Joe’s songs. After Fat Joe declined his demands he says that Dixon resorted to slander and is now taking him to court for his transgression.
Whether any of these allegations are true or not, best believe it’ll be something that will follow Fat Joe going forward as people tend to believe whatever they want when they don’t particularly like somebody. That’s one of the many negatives about social media in 2025.
Tyrone Blackburn, for his part, is confident in the lawsuit and warns of more claims to come.
Blackburn tells TMZ Hip Hop the new lawsuit is just a cover-up attempt and isn’t backing down … saying Joe filed “a baseless lawsuit in an effort to soften the blow of what’s to come. It won’t work. Fat Joe has a lot of explaining to do.”
Meanwhile Fat Joe is of course pushing back against the allegations and seems ready to fight this to the bitter end.
Fat Joe fiercely defends his name, telling us … “These allegations are completely false and part of a criminal conspiracy orchestrated between a disgruntled former hype man and his attorney. These two individuals have been scheming together to extort me with their elaborate and ludicrous demands changing by the day.”
Guess we’ll have to wait and see how this one ends up panning out.
What do y’all think about this situation? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Fat Joe’s memoir is set to come to television. Kenya Barris and Dominic Colón are developing a Starz series based on the rapper’s life.
Deadline is reporting that Fat Joe’s autobiography The Book Of Jose is getting picked up for a scripted series. The project will follow the Terror Squad MC’s life from growing up in the South Bronx to becoming a global personality. Kenya Barris (We The People Black-ish) will be penning the pilot with support from Dominic Colón (The Corps). Jessy Terrero, of Freelancers fame, is slotted to direct the pilot. The project was originally announced back in 2022 and was set to be on Showtime. According to reports the Showtime opportunity stalled forcing Kenya Barris to take it to Starz.
Released in 2022, The Book Of Jose is an honest look at Fat Joe’s life. In it he tells how he grew up poor and turned to selling drugs as his escape from poverty. He also details pivoting away from the streets to music only to find out that the entertainment industry is just as cutthroat drug trade. During an interview with The Breakfast Club Fat Joe explained why you don’t have to be a fan of Rap to relate to his memoir. “[This] is a transparency book. If you’re going through a dark time in your life; if you read this book you’re going to be able to smile.”
At this time there is no premiere date for the forthcoming series.
In the same way every pro sports championship run looks a little different, so do the ways teams integrate music into their winning formulas. For some, it’s finding the perfect locker room jam; for others, its giving new meaning to the music of a hometown hero.
But for all of them, music provides an X factor that could well make the difference on game day.
Boston Celtics2024 NBA Champions
BIA at halftime of game two of the 2024 NBA Finals in Boston on June 9, 2024.
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Widely considered the most successful franchise in NBA history, the Celtics called on their community during the 2023-24 season when competing for their now league-leading 18th championship. For the season’s marketing campaign, Different Here, “We wanted to focus on showcasing local musical artists and what makes Boston’s culture different,” says Carley Lenahan, Celtics director of live production and entertainment. “Connecting with our community and fans is integral to the support they show the Celtics, and the support and energy from our fans during a championship run is everything.”
On opening night of the 2023-24 season, the Celtics launched their Local Artist Halftime Series with performances by Boston-based hip-hop stars Esoteric and Latrell James and Roxbury native Oompa. “During a championship run, the home court advantage is key to a successful series, and we understand how important it is that the players can feed off the atmosphere and energy in the arena,” Lenahan says. Throughout the season, the nine artists from the Boston area were featured across seven Local Artist Halftime Series shows, culminating in Medford, Mass., native BIA’s performance at game two of the NBA Finals.
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“As a lifelong Celtics fan, I’ve been going to games since I was 10,” BIA says. “The opportunity to perform my music on the iconic parquet floor in front of my hometown crowd and my all-time favorite team was truly an honor and a full-circle moment.”
Kansas City Chiefs2023 and 2024 Super Bowl Winners
Mecole Hardman Jr. (second from right) celebrates with Patrick Mahomes (right), Travis Kelce (second from left) and Jawaan Taylor (far left) after catching the game-winning touchdown pass at the 2024 Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on Feb. 11, 2024.
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Many sports franchises lean on hometown artists to galvanize their teams, but the Kansas City Chiefs find musical inspiration in a different place: their locker room.
Amid the run-ups to the Chiefs’ back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 2023 and 2024, artists like 50 Cent, Future and YoungBoy Never Broke Again were constantly on shuffle to motivate the team during marquee postseason matchups. “I feel like in-season, it’s kind of a variety. We got multiple artists [that we listen to] depending on who is new and who is hot then,” Chiefs All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie says. “The postseason, we get back to the classics. We go old school.”
According to McDuffie, one new song has made its way through the cracks since the team won it all last year: BossMan Dlow’s “Get In With Me,” which has become a beloved anthem for players and coaches alike in the locker room. A close second? “Tweaker,” the current viral hit from LiAngelo “G3 GELO” Ball (himself a former pro-baller). But only two players have the privilege of managing the team’s turn-up tunes. “We’re strict on who can control the aux,” McDuffie says. “Most of the time, it’s either Jawaan Taylor or Chris Jones.”
Los Angeles Dodgers2024 MLB World Series Winners
Ice Cube opened game two of the 2024 World Series in Los Angeles on Oct. 26, 2024.
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The 2024 MLB World Series faceoff between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees couldn’t have been more high stakes. And to commemorate the East-West matchup between two of the biggest sports markets, the MLB tapped two beloved music stars — New York native Fat Joe and Los Angeles icon Ice Cube — to perform at their respective home fields.
Following a 1-0 series lead against the Yankees, Cube performed his 1993 classic “It Was a Good Day” from the pitcher’s mound at Dodger Stadium. Rocking Dodgers gear from head to toe, his performance enlivened the home team, which not only secured a game-two win but the overall series in five games. All-Star Kiké Hernández thanked Cube during the team’s championship celebration at Dodger Stadium, telling the thousands of fans in attendance, “Ice Cube came out with his performance in game two, and we didn’t even play [because] we already won it.”
“As a lifelong Dodgers fan who grew up watching them battle from the ’70s to the ’80s, that was a next-level dream come true,” Ice Cube tells Billboard. “To feel the energy of 52,000 fans going wild was otherworldly and contagious. You could feel it in the air. The crowd, the players — everybody was hyped. It was the perfect recipe for a win, and we all knew it at that moment.”
New York Liberty2024 WNBA Champions
Fat Joe at halftime of game five of the 2024 WNBA Finals in New York on Oct. 20, 2024.
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Following a devastating championship loss the year prior, the WNBA team entered the 2024 season determined to bounce back — and understood the critical role its fans would play in that journey. Those hometown supporters turned out to include not only the spirited crowds flocking to Barclays Center for games, but local hip-hop legends like Fat Joe, Ja Rule and Jadakiss.
“Everything we do needs to have a through line of authenticity,” says Liberty chief brand officer Shana Stephenson, who spent the season recruiting homegrown New York talent to perform at home games. “Sometimes, there might be a pop artist who is a big name at the moment, but I might not want to book them because I don’t know if our crowd will resonate with their sound.”
After dominating the regular season and securing home court advantage throughout the WNBA playoffs, Stephenson leveraged her love for hip-hop to propel the team’s championship run. With its title hopes hanging in the balance, Stephenson enlisted the help of Liberty fan and basketball aficionado Fat Joe to ignite the energy for the crucial game five.
“Everybody knows ‘Lean Back,’ right? My dad can sing it. He leans back when it comes on. That’s an anthem,” Stephenson says.
In the end, her plan was a key element in helping the team achieve its historic championship win in October. “That’s the beautiful thing about music and sports: It can unite people in a beautiful and powerful way,” Fat Joe says. “One time for the Liberty Ladies.”
This story appears in the Feb. 8, 2025, issue of BIllboard.
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Fat Joe is trending yet again for a fashion faux pas. He is getting absolutely cooked online for his purple fur coat and hat combination that he wore to a recent Knicks game.
As spotted on HipHopDX Don Cartegena attended the New York Knicks versus the Sacramento Kings game at Madison Square Garden. As usual he was seated court side but his outfit left many questioning his style sense. Fat Joe was sporting a purple fur coat with a matching a Russian ushanka style hat to match. The official Knicks account shared a photo of him to X, formerly Twitter, and the outfit was met with slander, confusion and more.
“He looks f*cking ridiculous,” one user wrote while another chimed in saying “Bro TRIPPIN”. The photo soon went viral and the Knicks account went on to post a different shot of Fat Joe with new caption that read “Moving in mauve” but that didn’t stop the jokes from coming his way. It seemed he brought the team a bit of good luck as the New York Knicks beat the Sacramento Kings 143-120.
You can read some of the most hilarious responses to Fat Joe’s purple fur outfit below.
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Fat Joe admitted that he uses Ozempic as part of changes in his lifestyle that’s helped him lose weight.
Veteran rapper Fat Joe has gone on the record to admit that he uses the weight-loss drug Ozempic, explaining that it is part of his journey toward better health overall. The Bronx, New York artist spoke candidly about it while being interviewed as part of the promotion for the 2024 BET Awards last week. “Ozempic says you may only have two pieces of your favorite stuff,” he joked, referring to carbohydrates. Fat Joe said that he’s been taking Ozempic since he has been dealing with diabetes from an early age.
The “All The Way Up” rapper is one of the few who’s been open about the drug but says that a major part of his losing close to 200 pounds has been adjusting his diet. “We just try to eat everything with the least carbs as possible,” Fat Joe said. “So we try to stay away from the bread, the pasta, the rice. That’s the smartest way to eat.” He noted that having carbohydrates is necessary, and that portion control was important.
“Like this morning I ate breakfast, I had this toast. I cut the corner off, ate it and kept it moving,” he stated. “Normally I would’ve ate [sic] the whole thing. But you know, that’s what we do. We cut carbs and try to be smarter.” The 54-year-old also joked that he wasn’t going to be changing his name anytime soon, at the behest of his wife, Lorena Cartagena. “My wife would kill me. She likes me being a big boy,” he joked. “She hallucinates like I’m still that big boy. She loves that.”
Fat Joe has become a figure that’s known to prioritize health, recently being the face of a new advertisement for the Power To The Patients healthcare advocacy group.“If you’re not advocating for prices and transparency in healthcare, you are compromising every single American across this country,” he says in the new commercial. “Because when we can’t see prices — hospitals, insurance, and their middlemen charge us whatever they want. Our very own healthcare system is robbing all of us. We just need the prices. That’s how our economy works!!!”
