Fat Joe Defends His Use Of The N-Word: 'You Taking It Offensive'

Fat Joe has once again spoken out in defense of his use of the n-word in a new interview alongside fellow rapper, Talib Kweli.

Speaking in an episode of Talib’s People’s Party podcast published on Monday (June 26), Joe - who was born in the Bronx and raised by parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent - discussed the use of the n-word with Talib, who noted, “For those of us that grew up in New York City – Latino people who grew up in Black neighborhoods, they say n***a just like Black people do.”

Fat Joe added, “Explaining it to people at this point is like, mind-boggling to me, ’cause it’s been like, ‘What’s up Fat Joe? You my n***a!’ since I’m 2 years old." 

"You taking it offensive, then what do I look like a slave owner to you? Or I look like the cop who killed George Floyd? I gotta think about you. ‘Cause you obviously know that you just said I’m the most important piece of hip-hop." 

"You obviously know I’m with Black people all day. I fight for Black people, I fight for Latinos every day of my life.”

He continued, “I don’t try to let people make me second guess what I do because that’s not what hip-hop was founded on. The origin of the word is foul anyway. I don’t know how we made it cool." 

"If I’m driving right down the block and somebody’s doing something to the blackest lady in the world – I’m jumping out. I’m dying! So it’s offensive to me when people say, ‘Yo, why do you even say that?’ Like, don’t you know?!”

It's not the first time Fat Joe has addressed his use of the slur. Speaking to The Breakfast Club in October last year, Joey Crack reflected on the controversy while denying he was racist.

“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,” he said. “You get one life, and no one is going to 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?”

He added, “My projects was 90 percent, I’ll give you 80 percent Black still. My grandmother’s projects is 99.9 percent Black, to be clear." 

“I’m Spanish. I knew I was Latino, but the whole time I thought I was Black anyway. So my mom lived there 40 years before I was born in this project, and I’m born blonde hair green eyes.”

He added that his use of the n-word was him beign a product of his environment, saying, “Now we use it as love, and we know the record states that this is a negative word, but unfortunately … I wish we never used it, and I try my best to try to like … but you know Fat Joe and his nose and green eyes, I’ve been saying this thing in my DNA. It’s hard bro." 

"Really, seriously I’ve been trying to stop, you know, but I’ve been saying this since I was born.”

Check out Fat Joe's recent interview below.