Fat Joe discussed his usage of the n-word in an interview with The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (October 4).
The D.I.T.C. member explained why he’s used the word throughout his life. Fat Joe recalled his childhood and how it influenced his vocabulary.
“My projects is 90 percent – I’ll give you 80 percent – Black still,” Fat Joe said. “My grandmother’s projects is 99.9 percent Black, to be clear. So, I’m Spanish. I knew I was Latino, but the whole time, I thought I was Black anyway.”
He continued, “So, my mom lived there 40 years before I was born, in this project. And I’m born blonde hair, green eyes … This s### crazy. She brings me there, the first thing they go, ‘Oh, look at this little n#### Joey. He got green eyes.’ The minute I’m walking, the guys from the building is like, ‘Yo, look at that little n#### Joe. Little Fat Joe.’ That’s all I knew my whole life.”
Fat Joe didn’t think it was offensive for him to use the n-word. He believed his critics don’t know his history.
“It’s a lot of woke society or something going on these days,” he said. “And Twitter and all that I guess they don’t understand where I come from, where I was born or how I was raised or how I lived my whole entire life. Now we know we use it as love. We know that the record states that this is a negative word. I wish we never used it.”
Fat Joe revealed he’s tried to stop using the word. But he insisted it wasn’t something anyone could pressure him to do.
“I been saying this thing in my DNA,” he said. “It’s hard, bro. I really, seriously, I been trying to stop. But I been saying this since I was born. I tried the greatest level I can to try to understand if I’m offending anybody, that’s cool.”
He added, “But I want them to know no one’s going to pressure Fat Joe into feeling or saying anything that he loves or believes in. No one’s ever going to do that. You get one life and ain’t nobody gonna try to tell me what to say, tell me what to do, tell me what to think. I mean, do I look like a racist?”
Listen to Fat Joe’s explanation below. The topic begins around the 30-minute mark.
