Within a crowd of fans waving their phone – trying to snap a picture, Fat Joe walked with his “squad” towards the stage where he’d be performing.
On Sunday night, he closed off art week at Basel House on 550 NW 24th St., in Wynwood.
The hip-hop artist is making a major comeback by dropping a new album in 2016, after seven years.
“I’m working on a project right now that I’m just beyond excited about. This is incredible, and I teamed up with somebody, and the fans are gonna really love it,” he said.
After 23 years since his first album titled, Represent, came out Fat Joe’s fans seem to remain loyal, as yesterday’s event had a broad audience of all ages singing and rapping along.
The artist performed songs such as What’s Luv, Big Pun’s Still Not a Player and Lean Back, which was the number one song on the charts in 2004.
“It’s very hard to be an artist and be in the game as long as I’ve been in the game and adjust; bridge the people who really love Fat Joe, into what’s really currently happening now,” said the Terror Squad CEO.
He believes it had been a challenge to merge together today’s hip-hop and modern style of music, to what he feels is his essence and what he is known for in the music industry.
“Right now it’s more ‘turnt up,’ so I gotta turn up, but I still gotta be Joe Crack,” he said. “You’re gonna hear [things] that [are] so current with this album that I’m gonna drop. It’s so current, but it’s gonna sound like [the] Lean Back, Fat Joe, and that was hard.”
Claiming that he has always liked quality over quantity when it comes to music, the Cuban-Puertorican artist described his roots and family as influential through his career and life choices. He has been living in Miami for 14 years with his wife and kids.
“I love the weather. I love the people. I love the vibe. I love the Latino environment. I fell in love with Miami when I came here 14 years ago,” said the rapper, who is also working on projects in the movie industry for 2016.
Biggie, Tupac, Big Pun and Jay Z lie within Fat Joe’s list of best rappers of all time, yet he also feels he has left a staple with his work in the industry.
“You need more than two minutes with Fat Joe to really understand what I’ve done in hip-hop,” said the rapper, who took the stage last night along with his oldest son Ryan Cartagena, where he also introduced a new rapper, Kent Jones.
Fat Joe has also seen growth in his music since he began in the early 1990s.
“In ‘93 I was just talking from my four corners, so in the Bronx all we truly know is four corners, so when I did my first album I was just describing my neighborhood, and [now] lyrically I am way better [with] so many hits. We influenced so many people; brought so many people to the culture,” he added.
