Fat Joe has been a prominent fixture in the hip-hop community for over two decades now, but recently he stirred up debate online when he claimed that hip-hop was created “half and half” by blacks and Latinos.
On Friday, he took to Instagram with a 45-second clip meant to celebrate the contributions of Latino artists, DJs, and groups who contributed to the hip-hop genre over the years including the Mean Machine, DJ Junebug, DJ Disco Wiz, and more. He captioned the clip “Thank you for your contribution to HIP HOP.”
The post, which appeared to be positive in nature and celebrated the contributions of the artists, was largely met with praise and positive feedback. However, some criticized Fat Joe in the comments.
On Saturday, Fat Joe went live on Instagram live to promote DJ Khaled‘s upcoming album, God Did. About 50 minutes into the session, Fat Joe addresses some of the backlash that he appeared to be receiving in the comments section.
The Bronx native noted that people had been questioning Latinos’ place in rap and the hip-hop culture.
He said that he recently had gone on Twitter where people had been talking about how “Latinos wasn’t in rap….this and that….these guys are f***ing delusional.”
He continued: “We from the Bronx, New York, sh** happens, it’s where hip-hop started. It’s Latino and black, half and half. But they’re going at me because I’m the only Spanish dude like really with a big voice.”
He imitated someone typing on a keyboard, saying “Latinos wasn’t there, you wasn’t invited, you are a specimen, I don’t know what is up with these people? They don’t know their facts.”
Twitter and Instagram users appeared to be divided, with some saying that the Latino culture did indeed have a presence in hip-hop while others called Fat Joe and DJ Khaled “culture vultures.”
