Born Joseph Cartagena, Fat Joe is a rapper, actor, and entrepreneur from the birthplace of hip-hop, the Bronx, New York. He began his music career as a member of the hip-hop group Diggin’ in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.). He released his first solo album, Represent, in 1993, and founded the record label Terror Squad, to which he signed top talent like Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, DJ Khaled, and featuring producers Cool & Dre.

Fat Joe is perhaps best known for his platinum-selling album Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.) and hits like “Lean Back” with Terror Squad, “What’s Luv?” featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule, “Make It Rain” featuring Lil Wayne, and “All the Way Up” with Remy Ma featuring French Montana and Dre.

In 2022, Fat Joe added author to his multi-hyphenate resume with The Book of Jose: A Memoir. Written in Joe’s own intensely compelling voice, moves with the momentum of pulp fiction, but underneath the tragicomedy and riveting tales of the streets and the industry is a thought-provoking story about a generation of survivors raised in warlike conditions—the life-and-death choices they had to make, the friends they lost and mourned, the regrets that haunted them, and the enduring art and glittering lives they created from the ruins.