to me it did great as a group album. So then Remy went on the radio and blamed me for everything I been arguing with these [executives at Universal] about. You know, I had to take it on the chin. You wanna know why? Cause your readers don’t know [the chairman of Universal] Mel Lewinter. Your readers don’t know Steve Rifkind. They know the Puerto Rican guy Fat Joe, or the black guy P Diddy. But you and Steve Rifkind go way back, don’t you? Way, way back. You know, I had a lot of respect for him. His hands are cuffed. I believe that he always had my back. I felt like he kept goin’ up there just like me, cause there is always a boss. Diddy’s really not the boss, Fat Joe really is not the boss. We all have to knock on the door. We’re all middlemen. We’re negotiators. We knock on the door and be like, “Yo, I need this,” and it’s up to the boss to shut you down. So I think Steve Rifkind just got shut down every time he went up there. And it’s hard for a female artist right now anyway. With female artists, if you ain’t Beyonce, it’s hard to sell a record now. Lil Kim, Shawnna, all these girls are very talented and made hit records, but for some reason we’re in a zone where girls are not really sellin’ like that. I tried to tell Remy, “Yo, everybody knows you’re dope, this is a stepping stone.” I didn’t just wake up and sell a million records. She threw me under the bus, but other than that, we’re beautiful. What’s the name of your new independent album? Me Myself and I. Very appropriate. Super appropriate. I’m like one of those Spanish conquistadors with the spear in my hand. I’ll fight the world. I’ll throw rocks at tanks. It seems like you kinda trimmed down your entourage a lil bit. I wouldn’t say that, cause the goons are always around. But if I get in trouble, I want to get myself in trouble. I don’t want a nigga fuckin’ my life up because he thinks he’s doing the right thing for me. “Damn, Julia, you didn’t want me to kill that guy in front of the SunTrust right now cause he was fuckin’ with you? I thought I was keepin’ it real!” (laughing) Naw, I can’t deal with that. The niggas that are with me are very focused. They know if it’s time to get busy, it’s time to get busy. Otherwise, let’s just entertain people. Let’s talk about 50 Cent – the beef between you two seems like it’s kinda died out. Do you think it was a publicity stunt? It was definitely a publicity stunt, but you can’t use me for a publicity stunt. Somebody’s going to have to answer at the end of the day. We got beef forever. Do you just try to avoid each other? I don’t know if we try to avoid each other. It just is what it is. I never see myself squashing the beef with him. I don’t really squash beef with nobody, it just rides out. We can be old men when we see each other and it is what it is, you know? It’s just like that. He had ample time to squash it before it even happened So the beef really came from you appearing on Ja Rule’s “New York New York” record or was that just a cover for other motivations? I really don’t think it was just the “New York New York” record. Some people, no matter how big they get and how much money they have, they’re just jealous people. When they see niggas get successful they try to shut them down. I don’t want to keep singing the same ol’ song and dragging it out. You, yourself, you’ve never seen 50 Cent without the fuckin’ niggas with earpieces, with suits on, with fuckin’ black shades on, right? The police. Mountains of ‘em. I guess he’s thinking: I never come out, and every time I do come out, I got 20 cops with me, so this nigga [Fat Joe] can’t get to me. It’s not like I’m going to run into him at the Carolmart, you know? And it’s sad because the only places that we see each other are places where it’s uncalled for, like the [MTV] VMAs. Cause that’s the only places they go. They never come out of the house. It’s a tricky situation cause [if something pops off] they’re going to blame Fat Joe. I went to the BET Awards with Khaled and it was just me, Khaled, and Macho. I had no clue that Busta Rhymes had brought Lloyd Banks, Eminem, and all of them. They got 150 niggas with them and they only gave me 3 tickets. Security is following me around like I’m a murderer, a madman on the loose, and I didn’t realize what was going on until a little birdie came and told me that them [G-Unit] niggas was over there. I had been standing in front of them the whole time and didn’t even know it was them. They was really tryin’ to act like they ain’t seen me, to be honest with you. The security of the BET Awards is fuckin’ following me, and I’m like, “Yo, these niggas got 150 niggas with them.” Are you serious? I’m three deep. It’s just amazing, man. 76
Do you respect 50 as a businessman in terms of what he’s done for hiphop by making money through other ventures, like the vitamin water and the shoes and all that? I don’t see what that nigga has done. I don’t see that nigga at all. It’s that simple. When does your album come out? November 14th. The second single is me and Game, it’s called “Breathe and Stop.” We’re gonna shoot that video in Jamaica – Nu Jersey Devil produced that. I got Lil Wayne on two joints on the album. I can’t wait til the fans get the album so they can hear the music and love it and appreciate it, cause I put my heart into this album. It was so many fans like, “Yo, this nigga Joe got too much hits for the girls,” you know, they want that crack music, that fat gangsta. So I gave them an album that’s straight cooked coke. Let’s see what the fans wanna do with it. I make music because I love to make music, but in 2006 it’s turned into a world where it’s all about the gossip and who got beef. When I came into the game all I ever wanted to do was make great music and have people respect me for being an artist. The name of the album is Me, Myself, and I because I just locked myself in the room to make some great music, music that I love. It’s a real hardcore album, the original Fat Joe. I know you did some records with The Runners, of course Cool & Dre, and DJ Khaled – are there any other producers you worked with? I did like three joints with Street Runner, and three joints with LV, who’s actually my DJ. He produced a lot of work on Puffy’s new album. Him and Street Runner are the future. I did two songs with Scott Storch. I worked with The Runners. Khaled’s got two mean songs on the album. Whoever brought me great music that was in the vibe of the album, I worked with them. The regular listener isn’t worried about who produced it, they just hear it and they like it or don’t like it.
“[When] you’re a little kid you have a dream of having a million dollars. once you get a million dollars, you think it’s like water and it won’t stop coming out the faucet. before you know it, that million dollars is gone.”