Fat Joe's Biography And Facts'
Andrew Adams
Published Jan 16, 2026
Fat Joe Biography Facts
Fat Joe has been appeared in channels as follow: WORLDSTARHIPHOP, FatJoeVEVO, Reggaeton World, JaRuleVEVO, TrapMusicHDTV, Akapellah, FlowUrban, GANGSTER GANG, PaperChaserDotCom.
Born 19 August, 1970 (53 years old).
What is the zodiac sign of Fat Joe ?
According to the birthday of Fat Joe the astrological sign is Leo .
Career of the Fat Joe started in 221 .
Fat Joe Wiki
| Fat Joe | |
|---|---|
| Cartagena performing in April 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Joseph Antonio Cartagena |
| Also known as | Fat Joe da Gangsta |
| Born | August 19, 1970 The Bronx, New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation | Rapper songwriter actor |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | EMPIRE R.N.G. R4 So Valid Be Music E1 Mr. 305 Inc. Warner Bros. Imperial Terror Squad Virgin Atlantic Big Beat Mystic Violator Relativity |
| Associated acts | Terror Squad Diggin' in the Crates Crew Apache Big Pun Cool & Dre DJ Khaled French Montana Grand Puba Ivy Queen Ja Rule Jennifer Lopez Lil Wayne N.O.R.E. R. Kelly Remy Ma Ry So Valid |
| Website | |
Joseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper and actor from the Bronx, New York. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew , then forged a solo career and set up his own label, Terror Squad, to which he signed Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, Cuban Link, Armageddon, Prospect, Triple Seis, and DJ Khaled as well as discover producers Cool & Dre.
Fat Joe's debut solo album, Represent, was released in 1993 and spawned the single "Flow Joe", which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs. His most commercially successful album to date was Jealous Ones Still Envy ; it was certified platinum by the RIAA and internationally certified silver by the BPI, as well as reaching the top 100 on multiple music charts.
He is best known for the songs "Lean Back" with Terror Squad , "What's Luv?" featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule , "Make It Rain" featuring Lil Wayne, and "All the Way Up" with Remy Ma featuring French Montana and Dre .
Fat Joe has appeared in several films, including Scary Movie 3 and Happy Feet, as well as Spike Lee's Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It.
In 2018 he began hosting a podcast on Tidal, Coca Vision, where he discusses music, friendships, and pop culture with various guests. His album Family Ties was released in December 2019.
Early life
Fat Joe was born Joseph Antonio Cartagena in the Bronx borough of New York City, where he was raised by parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. Living in the Forest Houses, a public housing project in the South Bronx neighborhood of Morrisania, Fat Joe began stealing at a young age to support his family. He also admits that he was a bully in his childhood. His brother introduced him to hip hop music.
Personal life
Fat Joe in July 2005
Family
Fat Joe lives in Miami and is married with three children.
He had been a resident of Tenafly, New Jersey before being sentenced.
Community work
Fat Joe has been back to his old school in the Bronx, New York to donate computers for the students.
In 2008, he attended the grand opening of the Hip Hop Soda Shop in Miami which was community outreach project set up by Ben Chavis for the youth to hang out and do things such as record music, use the computers and play on Xbox 360s.
At a "School is Cool" assembly in Public School 5 in Jersey City, New Jersey on June 11, 2009, Fat Joe was a speaker.
On January 23, 2011, Fat Joe appeared with Newark mayor Cory Booker and fitness expert Jeff Halevy at an event to promote the Newark branch of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative against childhood obesity.
Weight loss
By 1996, he weighed 300 pounds . In 2005, Stuff magazine and ContactMusic.com profiled Fat Joe's weight loss efforts.
In 2011, Fat Joe unveiled his latest weight loss efforts in the video for his song "Drop a Body" after shedding 88 pounds off his previous weight of 350 pounds. Furthermore, he follows a low-carb approach, eating sweet potatoes but not eating white carbs like bread, rice and pasta.
Legal issues
On September 8, 1998, Fat Joe and Big Pun were arrested on assault charges for hitting a man with a baseball bat and stealing the man's gold chain on June 14 that year. Joe was arrested again on May 12, 2002 for allegedly fighting with another man at B.B. King's Blues Club in Times Square, but the charges were dropped on January 10, 2003.
In two murder cases, Fat Joe has been named a witness:
Joe's former bodyguard, Jose Mulero , was arrested on September 17, 2004 for the April 15, 1994 shooting death of 16-year-old Ernesto Rivera at a Bronx nightclub. Responding to a subpoena, Fat Joe claimed to have heard the shooting and seen people fleeing the scene, but investigators argued that he was standing closer to Mulero, by a door.
Miami Beach police also named Fat Joe as a witness in a Memorial Day double homicide outside David's Cafe II in South Beach. Jermaine Wufgang Chamberline of Miami Gardens was accused of shooting Lessli Paz and Joey Navarro to death on that morning; Fat Joe and the two victims were sitting in a rented Cadillac Escalade parked outside the restaurant when a fight broke out between passengers and another man.
In December 2012, Fat Joe pleaded guilty to tax evasion for not paying income tax on over $3 million from 2007 to 2010. On June 24, 2013, he was sentenced to four months in prison for tax evasion. He began the sentence on August 26, 2013, and was released on November 28, 2013.
LGBT beliefs and support
During an interview with Vlad TV, Joe stated that while he is not gay himself, he believes that gay people should not hide their sexuality and should stand by who they are. He mentioned that it's possible that he has done songs with gay rappers and that there are likely several gay people besides rappers in the hip hop industry who are in the closet, describing it as a "Gay Mafia".
His comments came after he was asked to comment on radio personality Mister Cee being arrested for public lewdness with a transgender sex worker.
Total Music Videos
30
Music Labels
WORLDSTARHIPHOP, FatJoeVEVO, Reggaeton World, JaRuleVEVO, TrapMusicHDTV, Akapellah, FlowUrban, GANGSTER GANG, PaperChaserDotCom
Popular Songs
