It all started for Fat Joe aka Joey Crack back in the early 90's, where he was discovered by the Diggin in the Crates Crew and eventually signed to Relativity Records. He released his first album titled "Represent" in 1993, spawning the number one hip hop hit "Flow Joe" as well as the singles "Watch the Sound" and "This Sh** is Real." While sales may not reflect it, this album is regarded as a very solid debut the embodies the "New York street" sound and is more of an underground classic than anything. "Jealous One's Envy" followed in 1995, which saw more of that New York sound from Fat Joe, albeit less raw and more polished. It featured his biggest hit to date "Envy," which saw Joe venture towards more of a crossover sound, as it sampled "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. Regardless, the album is viewed favorably by critics and hip hop fans alike.
After discovering Big Pun and forming the Terror Squad, "Don Cartegena" was released in 1998 and would eventually go on to be certified gold. Although the album has a lot of featured artists, including Big Pun, Nas, Raekwon, Noreaga and JadaKiss, each of the artists fit well into the concept of the album and do nothing to take away from the signature New York sound that Fat Joe had started to make a name for himself with.
Following the tragedy of losing Pun, "Jealous One's Still Envy" was released in 2001, eventually becoming Fat Joe's only certified platinum album. However, the success didn't come without a price, as both of the albums hit singles featured big name R&B artists, pushing Joe into the mainstream, while leaving some of his fan base agitated.
The next year, "Loyalty" was released and by all accounts ended up being a flop, selling only 120,000 copies. Joe tried to emulate the formula for success he used on his previous album, instating Ginuwine to sing on the first single, and Tony Sunshine to sing on the 2nd. All the while, he had begun to spend more time living in Miami and less time in his hometown of the Bronx. This is evident in the sound of his music at the time, as he relied more on Miami based producers Cool and Dre and less the New York based producers who helped tailor his signature sound in the past.
After a three year hiatus from solo albums, which included landing a #1 single on the Terror Squad cut "Lean Back," Joe released "All or Nothing" in 2005. Once again, Joe chose to work mainly with producers such as Cool and Dre and DJ Khaled, leaving his classic New York sound all but gone. In addition, the album was mainly considered a failure, once again relying on a pop artist (in this case Nelly) to land him a hit song. The following year, "Me, Myself, and I" saw him doing the same, relying on artists such as Lil' Wayne and the Game (both at the top of Hip Hop at the time) to get success. At this point, the original Terror Squad members are nowhere to be found on his album. In addition, if you weren't familiar with his classic albums, you wouldn't know he was from New York besides him claiming the Bronx all over the album.
Flavor of the month singer J. Holiday helped Joe with the lead single "I Won't Tell" for his 8th solo album "The Elephant in the Room" as Joe continues to strive for a radio friendly hit. Most of his loyal fan base from the early days are by now long gone, alienated by the fact Joe did not stay true to his New York hip hop roots. The same can be said for his latest release, "Jealous One's Still Envy 2," which features lead singles featuring Akon and Pleasure P.
One has to wonder how it came to this, but it's pretty evident that Fat Joe tried to evolve with the times to sell records instead of staying true to his roots. While I can't fault the man for making money, I won't consider his music to be anything special, even in this time when Hip Hop is in a downturn. Any fans that Joe had since the beginning are now long gone, as the artist we hear today is totally different than the Joey Crack from the South Bronx who debuted in 1993. With his last album only selling 100,000 copies, and this one not looking to do much more, it may seem Fat Joe is becoming irrelevant. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of his older stuff, I just don't agree with the direction he had chosen and wish he would remember his roots.
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