Tag: Fat Joe

Fat Joe – “The World Changed on Me” review

This is the 11th full-length studio LP from Bronx emcee, songwriter & actor Fat Joe. A member of D.I.T.C. & the Terror Squad, his first 3 albums Represent, J.O.E. (Jealous Ones Envy) & Don Cartagena are considered by many to be the best in his discography. However, much of his output since then has been either hit or miss from the underrated The Elephant in the Room to the horrendous J.O.S.E. 2 (Jealous Ones Still Envy 2). Cool & Dre produced the What Would Big Do? EP few years back & that was the most I’ve enjoyed Joey Crack’s music in a while, giving me hope for The World Changed on Me.

“Talking Hot” begins with a drumless Cool & Dreinstrumental letting it known that they gon’ be gettin’ shit poppin’ in here whereas “Mini Birki” featuring Ty$ happens to be a decent blend of trap & pop rap telling their respective partners Lorena & Zalia that they mean everything to them. “Us” featuring Remy Ma with co-production from 808-Ray makes a cutthroat toast to hip hop music leading into the underwhelming “Dog House” continuing the themes of romance albeit not as enjoyable as “Mini Birki” was.

As for “Me & U”, we have Joe over some horns & hi-hats talking about being alone with Lorena improving on what the previous joint lacked just before “Bad Man” featuring Tuggawar gets back on the drumless tip thanks to Don Cannon flexing their authenticity whilst everyone else be with the scams. “I Got You” was another mediocre pop rap joint that I could do without despite the Babyface hook, but then “Fresh” featuring Tony Sunshine finds the pair refusing to stop until they bring home Grammies.

The song “Paradise” was an obnoxious choice of a lead single from the DJ Khaled beat heavily ruining a sample as one would expect Khaled to do & in this case “Spring Love (Come Back to Me)” by Stevie B to the lyrics about giving his lover what she wants when she wants while the title track hops over a soulful STREETRUNNER instrumental confessing to feeling as if everyone switched on him. “They Don’t Love You” ends the LP with 1 more drumless cut laying passionate verses on top of this bare loop.

I’ve been wanting Cool & Dre to produce an album for Fat Joe since I feel like they’ve been bringing the best out of him in recent memory & considering that they produced 54% of it, I’ll still take it since it’s better than I had anticipated in it being even if it’s still average as a whole. The production’s actually consistent for a good portion of it & I like that he’s recapping the last 15 years of his life, it’s that the pop rap joints are hit or miss for me.

Score: 3/5

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Fat Joe – “What Would Big Do?” review

Fat Joe is a 50 year old MC, songwriter & actor from The Bronx, New York who came up as a member of D.I.T.C. & the Terror Squad. His first 3 albums Represent, J.O.E. (Jealous Ones Envy) & Don Cartagena are considered by many to be the best in his discography. However, much of his output since then has been either hit or miss from the underrated The Elephant in the Room to the horrendous J.O.S.E. 2 (Jealous Ones Still Envy 2). Last we heard from him was in late 2019 when he & Dre dropped their collab effort Family Ties, but is now returning with a brand new EP produced by Cool & Dre.

The intro has a soulful vibe instrumentally with Joe flexing whereas “Michael” is a luscious romance anthem. “Honey” vibrantly talks about hustling just before he & Dre reunite for the fly shit that “Diamonds” delivers on top of a fucking Prince sample. “Demon Girl” serves as a spacious bad bitch theme, but then “Africa” with Lil Yachty bastardizes the iconic Toto song of the same name.

The song “Babyface” compares his sex game to Verzuz despite the sensual beat while
the penultimate track “Back Outside” with Remy Ma serves as a funky ass shaker. The closer “Sunshine (The Light)” then samples both Rihanna & Luther Vandross saying that his girl is everything to him.

I still stand on what I said earlier about Fat Joe’s discography in the last 20 years being hit or miss, but What Would Big Do? isn’t bad. Cool & Dre do a good job for the most part at flipping the classics as Joe gets on his grown man shit.

Score: 3.5/5