Fat Joe (born Joseph Cartagena on August 19, 1970) is an American rapper. Of Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage, and born and brought up in the Bronx, Joe was popular in the underground hip hop scene during the early and mid- 1990s. During this period, Joe was affiliated with KRS-One — there are pictures online at KRS-One's Temple of Hiphop site showing them drawing graffiti (" bombing") together. He is also a member of the D.I.T.C. Crew (the "Digging in the Crates Crew"), along with well-respected hip-hoppers such as Diamond D, Lord Finesse, O.C., A.G., Buckwild, occasional member Big L (deceased), and Big Pun (deceased). The title of the group refers to DJs who "dig in the crates" of used record stores to find rare or novel records with "breaks" that they could use for production or in performances.
After Joe's rap protege, the similarly large, Puerto Rican, Bronx-based rapper, Big Pun, broke into the mainstream with his duet with the O'Jays, "I'm Not a Player" and its more popular remix, "Still Not a Player", featuring R&B singer Joe, Fat Joe began to follow suit. His 1998 single, "Bet Ya Man Can't", which featured Big Pun as well as other members of their Terror Squad clique, such as Cuban Link and Triple Seis, was a small hit. Shortly before Big Pun's death, Pun and Joe had a hit with Jennifer Lopez on a track from her first album, On the 6, called "Feelin' So Good".
With 2001's release of J.O.S.E. (Jealous Ones Still Envy), Joe scored two back-to-back hits with "We Thuggin'", which featured R&B superstar R. Kelly singing the chorus and "What's Luv", which featured up-and-coming R&B/pop star Ashanti on its chorus, and went on to become one of 2002's biggest pop hits.
