Fat Joe Explains His Usage Of The N-Word, Says He Won’t Stop
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Fat Joe has been criticized for his usage of the N-Word — both in his music and interviews — on multiple occasions. The Bronx rapper recently addressed his reasoning for the term being in his vocabulary during an appearance on The Breakfast Club, attributing it to being a habit he picked up early on in life due to the nature of his surroundings.
“First of all, my projects is 90 percent, I’ll give you 80 percent, Black still,” Joe said at one point during the interview. “My grandmother’s projects is 99.9 percent Black to be clear. So I’m Spanish. I knew I was Latino, but the whole time I thought I was Black anyway. So, my mom lives there 40 years before I was born, in this project, and I’m born blond hair, green eyes. This shit crazy, right? She brings me there, the first thing is they go, ‘Oh, look at this little nigga Joey. He got green eyes.’ The minute I’m walking, the guys in the building is like, ‘Yo, look at that little nigga Joe, little Fat Joe.’ That’s all I knew my whole life before even elementary.”
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The Terror Squad leader continued, adding, “It’s a lot of woke society or something going on these days and Twitter and all that I guess they don’t understand where I come from, where I was born or how I was raised or how I lived my whole entire life. Now we know, we use it as love. We know that the record states that this is a negative word and I wish we never used it, you know? And I try my best … I been saying this thing … in my DNA. It’s hard. Really, seriously I been trying to stop, but I been saying this since I was born. I tried the greatest level I can to try to understand if I’m offending anybody and that’s cool.”
However, Joey made it clear that the backlash received from his usage of the N-Word will not stop him from continuing to use the term, which he views as a term of endearment, moving forward. “No one’s going to pressure Fat Joe into [not] feeling or saying anything that he loves or believes in,” the 52-year-old hit-maker said, defiantly. “No one’s ever going to do that. You get one life and nobody gonna try to tell me what to say, tell me do, tell me what to think.”
A native of the South Bronx, Fat Joe has been open about spending his formative years in a predominantly Black environment. He has also been embraced by numerous peers in the Hip-Hop community, many who are Black, who have spoken out in defense of his intent and character in relation to the N-Word. Remy Ma, a member of Terror Squad and frequent collaborator, previously addressed the issue, arguing that Joe’s usage of the term isn’t out of disrespect and that he’s a fixture in the Black community, despite his Latino heritage.
“I know his whole family,” Remy said on Revolt TV’s State of the Culture. “This didn’t happen when he decided to become a rapper or [an] artist. ‘Yeah, I’m gonna use the word ni**a because this sounds cool.’… He’s Black. Like, that’s it.”
Joe himself has spoken out against those using the N-Word in a seemingly flippant or abusive manner. The rapper recently lashed out at podcast host Joe Rogan, referring to the popular personality as a “piece of shit” after footage of Rogan repeatedly saying the N-Word earlier this year.
Fat Joe recently hosted the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards, which aired Tuesday night (Oct. 4) and saw Joe performing as part of the massive Loud 30 Tribute. The performance included appearances from Wu-Tang Clan, Havoc of Mobb Deep, Joey Bada$$, M.O.P., Dead Prez, Three 6 Mafia, David Banner, Remy Ma, and more.
Watch Fat Joe’s The Breakfast Club interview below.
