Legendary rapper Fat Joe has lost a lot of weight in the past decade. But he says he certainly doesn’t lose “Fat” from his name.
“As a business, I’ve spent so many millions and millions of dollars marketing Fat Joe that it wouldn’t be smart to change my name now,” he told us at a 10-year anniversary party for It’s A Ten haircare.
Meanwhile, he said he won the name at the cost of being teased quite seriously.
“I grew up in the projects where there was no filter,” he said. “For example, if the teacher wrote something on the blackboard, I was always tall, so the gap of [my butt] would show. So the girls would be like yeah Joey Crack and that’s how I kept my name.”
The 52-year-old father of three showed up to celebrate the store’s milestone with CEO Carolyn Aronson.
Aronson made headlines in 2020 when she became pregnant at age 53, prompting Joe to tell us he’s proud that his industry allows some of its most successful women to be both moms and superstars.
“It’s important for women to know that you can have a baby and still be a successful business woman. We’ve seen Cardi B do it, we’ve seen Remy Ma do it, we’ve seen Nicki Minaj do it. You can be successful and still have a child.”
“I think women in hip-hop who think they can’t have babies is something that’s been in the past and that thinking was something that was pushed into the past,” Joe added. “It’s a new day.”
“Women can be successful performers, get rich and have a baby,” he said.
The event was hosted by Angie Martinez of 105.1. Joe’s wife, Lorena Cartagena, was also in attendance for the bash at Chelsea Table & Stage.