Fat Joe has put a name to why some of the most established figures in rap stay out of the studio, and the answer he gives is not ability. Speaking on SiriusXM's Shade 45 with D-Stroy while promoting his album Organized Rhyme, he said ego and an obsession with opening-week numbers are keeping legacy artists from releasing music they are still capable of making.
His account of it was blunt. "A lot of artists got caught up in ego. A lot of artists got caught up in first-week sales," he said, adding that some of the all-time legends who can still make incredible music refuse to make it because they are scared of failure and scared of sales.
The argument he attaches to that is about money rather than pride. His position is that an artist who has built a portfolio and earns from several directions has no reason to care about a chart position at all, and he pointed back at what the music was for before any of that existed: freestyling, representing hip-hop, representing your neighbourhood.
He then applied the same standard to himself, which is the part that gives the remark some weight. "I couldn't even tell you what we sold. I really don't give a fuck," he said, adding that he was glad people heard it and liked it.
No numbers are attached anywhere in this. Joe names no artist he is describing, quotes no sales figure of his own, and no other artist responds, so the whole thing rests on his read of how his peers behave rather than on anything measurable. AllHipHop's write-up adds Nas, Jay-Z and Wu-Tang as examples of his generation, but those names come from the outlet rather than from Joe.
It is also worth noting where he said it. This was a promotional appearance for his own new album, so a veteran arguing that veterans should release music regardless of what it sells is making a case that happens to describe exactly what he has just done.
Joe has been in the news for his own statements more than once this month, the last of them his answer to criticism over his use of a slur. This one sits with the rest of the site's hip-hop coverage.
The facts
- Fat Joe said legacy rap artists are afraid of first-week sales numbers.
- He said they refuse to record because they are scared of failure.
- He made the remarks on SiriusXM's Shade 45 with D-Stroy.
- He was promoting his album Organized Rhyme at the time.
- He said he could not say what his own record sold.
- He named no artist he was describing.
- AllHipHop, not Joe, names Nas, Jay-Z and Wu-Tang as his generation.
How this checks out
Single source
Reported by a single outlet
Only one outlet has reported it so far, so it stays a single source.
Cited sources 1
Every outlet that reported this, linked to what it published. Equal credits, in alphabetical order.