November 1, 2022
A memoir from the popular rapper. Joseph Cartagena (b. 1970), aka Fat Joe, opens the book like a blockbuster movie, packed with tales of violence, drug-dealing, fast cars, and more. Known for a string of hip-hop hits that span four decades, including anthems like "Lean Back" and "What's Luv," featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule, the author's career has had its highs and lows, and he describes each in equally painstaking detail. "You can learn from other people's mistakes," he writes. "I learned from theirs and hopefully you'll learn from mine." Though the lessons he has learned never came easy, he writes about them with the directness of someone who has come to terms with them. When his brother, Angel, went blind from his drug addiction, the author realized how his drug-dealing affected other families. "I believe in karma," he writes. "Sometimes I ask myself if the misfortunes that have fallen to me, to my own son, to my family, if these are because of all the destruction I took a hand in? The pain I caused? My brother sold millions of dollars in drugs. I don't think it's a coincidence that he fell to the drugs." Throughout his life, Fat Joe has had plenty of celebrations only to see many of them taken away: He saw his big discovery, rapper Big Pun, become a superstar and then die of a heart attack in 2000 at the age of 28. The author earned millions but then lost nearly all of it due to embezzlement from his accountant. He ended up in jail for not paying his taxes because of his accountant, but he also rebuilt his career after getting out. The way he tells his story so far, the author seems ready to use it to make his next big move. Fat Joe's memoir reads just like his hits sound, brimming with flashy style, street smarts, and survivor's strength.
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December 19, 2022
Rapper Fat Joe debuts with an unflinching portrait of his rise to fame set against the backdrop of 1970s and ’80s New York City. Joe recounts his youth in the South Bronx projects, where he grew from a rambunctious loudmouth into a ruthless gangster after being bullied by his street-savvy peers. “At the start of puberty,” he writes, “I was way more concerned with getting revenge and levying brutality than the average boy.” Joe and cowriter Reid detail the rapper and his peers’ youthful criminal exploits—mainly drug dealing and violence—with the enthusiasm of a good boast track, then cut that slickness with genuine pathos, as when Joe reflects on the ravages of his drug game: “The disease, the violence, the incarceration: We didn’t invent any of it. But it ripped us apart.” Joe is a charismatic narrator who owns his faults even as he celebrates their spoils, chronicling the ups and downs of his lifestyle, including being shot when he was 17 and signing with his first record label in the early ’90s. As well he makes clear his admiration for musical contemporaries Nas and Jay-Z, writing breathlessly about their talent and influence on his music. The narrative is largely unstructured, but that anarchic energy enhances the authenticity. This is a must-read for hip-hop fans.