Fat Joe is a rapper and producer from New York. Fat Joe pursued a lucrative solo career after making a reputation for himself in the early 1990s with the D.I.T.C Crew. He eventually launched Terror Squad, his record label.
Fat Joe has worked with some of the greatest names in the music business over the years. Fat Joe has made several film appearances aside from music. In this article, we will take a look at how Fat Joe became so wealthy and what his net worth is in 2023.
Fat Joe Net Worth
As of 2023, Fat Joe’s estimated net worth is $4 million. He continues to make investments and commercial decisions that will assure his financial success despite the positive reception his music has received from critics. He makes an annual salary of at least $0.5 million.
Real Estate Investment
In 2000, Joe paid $115,000 for an acre of land in Plantation, Florida near Fort Lauderdale. He then custom-built a 5,300-square-foot home. He listed the home for sale in 2010 for $2 million but did not find a buyer. As of this writing he still owns the property.
The Early Life of Fat Joe
Joseph Antonio Cartagena is the real name of Fat Joe. He was born on August 19th, 1970 in New York City’s South Bronx district. Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants founded Cartagena. Cartagena was pushed early towards a life of crime since he was raised in a harsh, underprivileged area.
During his school years, he called himself a “bully” and frequently stole to help feed his family. Joseph’s brother exposed him to his true love of life at an early age: hip-hop music.
Fat Joe Musical Career: A Journey Through Hits and Collaborations
Cartagena joined the Diggin’ in the Crates Crew in 1992 and adopted the stage name “Fat Joe da Gangster” (D.I.T.C). He had the opportunity to work with a variety of musicians during this time, developing useful networking ties that he would later use to develop his record company.
His debut album was ready to be released in 1993 when he was initially signed to Relativity Records. The single “Flow Joe” appeared on Fat Joe’s debut solo album, Represent. The song sent Fat Joe to the top of the Rap Charts and gave him a head start in the music industry.
He released his second album, Jealous One’s Envy, in 1995 as a follow-up. Fat Joe’s fame was further cemented by the successful chart performance of the song “Envy.” When he encountered LL Cool J during a recording session in the studio, things progressed further.
He was asked to record in the booth for the song “I Shot Ya,” and he later made an appearance in the music video. Fat Joe began working with Big Pun around this time, who he had personally discovered.
On his third album, Don Cartegena, released in 1998, Fat Joe collaborated with musicians including Nas, Diddy, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Both “Bet Ya Man Can’t Triz” and the song of the same name went on to become significant hits.
Additionally, with the help of this record, Fat Joe’s new Terror Squad group—which included Big Pun, Cuban Link, Prospect, and others—was introduced. Fat Joe also promoted several artists under his own record company, Terror Squad, which bore his name.
For his fourth album, Jealous One’s Still Envy, Fat Joe continued to work with well-known musicians. Irv Gotti produced the album, which included performances by Ashanti, Ja Rule, and Ludacris. Despite being one of the album’s biggest hits, “What’s Luv” absolutely eclipsed “We Thuggin’.”
The song, which featured Ashanti and Ja Rule and is widely regarded as Fat Joe’s most popular song of all time, has now evolved into one of the most enduring and evocative songs from the early 2000s.
All of these factors combined to produce a degree of success that Fat Joe would never again reach with another album, not even Loyalty from 2002. Jealous Ones Still Envy eventually received platinum certification.
Fat Joe Vs 50 Cent: The Start of a Feud
The final album by Terror Squad, True Story, was released in 2004. The album included Remy Ma’s participation in the smash song “Lean Back.” One of Fat Joe’s most commercially successful tracks ever, the song spent three weeks at the top of the charts.
Fat Joe and 50 Cent started their infamous feud in 2005. It all began when 50 Cent blasted Fat Joe for teaming up with rapper Ja Rule. With a trash tune on his sixth album All or Nothing, Fat Joe retaliated. Additionally, the album included performances from R. Kelly, Eminem, and Remy Ma.
Fat Joe publicly slammed 50 Cent for cowardice and a lack of street cred as their feud eventually became more heated. Things came to a head at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards when 50 Cent jumped onto the stage and yelled obscenities at Fat Joe for insulting him while he was performing.
A commercial break was quickly cut into the awards show. Then, Fat Joe and Lil Wayne worked together on his seventh album, Me, Myself & I. The Grammy-nominated smash song “Make It Rain” resulted from this. Throughout this time, 50 Cent and Fat Joe’s animosity persisted.
50 Cent made fun of Fat Joe’s new album The Elephant in the Room when it was released, saying his mixtape had sold more copies and that he had personally “killed” Fat Joe’s career. The following several years saw Fat Joe working with a variety of musicians to release albums like J.O.S.E. 2 and The Darkside Vol. 1.
After agreeing to a new record deal with E1 Music, Fat Joe declared his intention to put out two more Darkside mixtapes before calling it quits. Fat Joe continues to put out music throughout the following few years by working with musicians like Cool and Dre, Ludacris, ASAP Rocky, Wiz Khalifa, and French Montana.
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Fat Joe Legal Troubles: Multiple Assault Charges
Throughout his career, Fat Joe has battled a lot of legal problems. Fat Joe has been accused of assault on at least two distinct occasions. Additionally, he was asked to testify in two different murder trials. The defendant was the bodyguard for Fat Joe.
Fat Joe was in a car with two men who were shot to death, and as a result, he was called as a witness in a different murder case. Fat Joe admitted to tax cheating in 2012. On $3 million in revenue from 2007 to 2010, Fat Joe did not pay any taxes. He was thus given a four-month prison term.
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