I was a diabetic for 16 years, since I was 14. Being that I lost weight, no more diabetes. You don't have to lose your eyesight, cut off your toes, have a stroke, get kidney failure. You just have to lose weight - you know - for most of the diabetes.
Fat Joe
Talking to people from the heart matters, and it's unfortunately something brands have forgotten about. Celebrity endorsement deals try to gain recognition for brands, but at their core, what matters is if the celebrity truly backs the brand.
DJ Premier, this guy is like a god, a walking god. Guru, he put it down legendary.
Envision what the end result is supposed to be... what do you want to be when you grow up? Where do you see yourself? Once we identify what the painting on the wall is, it is so much easier to bring in the right colors, canvas and brushes to paint that picture.
I started out in the Apollo Theater. That's where I got my start. I won Amateur Night four weeks in a row.
When I introduce you to somebody, his name is Big Pun. When I introduce you to somebody, his name is DJ Khaled. When I introduce you to an artist, her name is Remy Ma. If I introduce you to somebody, it's Cool and Dre or Scott Storch - people who change the face of the game.
Culturally, the arts of Puerto Rico is really unmatched by any other island.
It feels like Gangstarr is the purest group in hip-hop. They was shooting videos on the beach in the winter when the water was ice. Razor-blade music.
There's two systems of health care: the one for the rich that's really good, then there's the one for the inner city, where they leave ladies in the emergency room unattended for 24 hours until they drop dead.
To have so many years in the rap industry and so many number one songs, and sold so many millions of records, introduced the world to people like Cool & Dre, DJ Khaled, Pitbull, Rick Ross, Trick Daddy, Remy Ma, Big Pun, Rico Love... I could go on and on. Having been able to influence the rap game for so long is very important to me.
If you really analyze my music, there is a lot of violence in my music because the Bronx, at the era and time I was coming up, was almost equivalent to how a 'Braveheart' or 'Gladiator' movie would be.
If I could gain 1,000 pounds and be healthy, I would love to do that.
I beefed with 50 Cent for seven years.
Puerto Rico is a powerful island.
The 'hood don't really wanna hear it, but you need brown rice, you need wheat bread, stuff like that.
Before I was rapping, I was always around the rap game, even though I was in the streets. I would be at all the parties and all the events, and I was pretty hard to miss. I was one of the few Spanish cats sitting there with jewelry on, Dapper Dan suits. It was pretty hard to miss me.
What I can tell you is that for Puerto Rico being such a small island, it has culturally impacted the entire world.
As U.S. citizens, Puerto Rico has paid their part.
There isn't a country I ain't touch in Africa. I just came back from South of France, I toured China, Japan, wherever you name, 60,000 people come out to see Fat Joe.
The hip hop industry is most likely owned by gays. I happen to think there's a gay mafia in hip hop. Not rappers - the editorial presidents of magazines, the PDs at radio stations, the people who give you awards at award shows.
I don't rate Heat fans like I rate Knicks fans. We are true basketball fans. No matter what - rain, sleet or snow, or even if we don't make it to the playoffs for 10 years - the Garden stands are still full.
Being that I always perform, I started working out with a trainer to get that endurance and stamina. Now, I guess you could call me a gym rat.
I was really from the streets, and I really did hustle in a major way. When I got my record deal, I left the streets alone as far as hustling. I never, ever hustled again. I said, 'I'm gonna change my life, I'm going legit. This is where I'm at.'
I collaborate with Tidal because they're for the artists - the up and coming artists and the O.G.s in the game. It's like a home, the only place we have for the artists to find support.
Minorities have been hustling backwards from check to check.
Latinos finally have a genre of music that represents them, and they're supporting reggaeton in such huge numbers that people can't help but notice there's a revolution going on.
When I came up in hip hop, there was no such thing as a Puerto Rican rapper doing hip hop for many mainstream people, so I was the ship, the captain, and the crew.
This world is too hard for me to leave my kids, without me supervising and being there for them.
I realized, at a certain point, all my big people were dying. I couldn't see a clearer picture: what's the difference between me and him, of me being in a casket?
The biggest killer of people is food.
I love to eat. If I could eat everything in the world and still be healthy or wouldn't catch a heart attack or stroke, I'd eat everything. I just can't. So I got to watch my health and take care of my family.
I love Lil Wayne; that's like my little brother. He's just the coolest dude on Earth.
All I know is stars and hits, you know what I mean? I don't just sign a guy because he has a hot record. I sign a guy because he's a star. He's a pillar of the community.
Whenever I come out with a hit record, they'll say, 'Ah, that's because of R. Kelly. Oh, it's because of Ashanti. Oh, he's lucky.'
There are 3.5 million Americans in Puerto Rico. So, just like we're quick to go everywhere else and help, we expect that same of America for Puerto Rico. These are U.S. citizens!
I never lose touch. If you let me tell it, I'll tell you I never got my just due and my respect for being one of the greats in hip-hop, and because of that, the fire never burned out. There's more and more of a need for me to succeed or take the legacy a step further, and that's what it is.
I'm known to be hands on 100%. I don't know any other way to be than a leader by example.
What I do like about Donald Trump is that he's not bought by the lobbyists. He put up his own money, funded his own campaign. That means he's nobody's puppet.
Fat Joe ain't out here trying to battle-rap everybody in the world. That's not what I'm about.
See, me, I don't run away. During my successes or my failures, I put it on me.
'Envy' was a bit of a challenge for me. It was smooth.
I think I weighed about 450/460 at my heaviest. That's huge! That's Fat Joe. And you know, I always took pride in being fat.
Latinos been a part of hip-hop culture and every other culture; we've been influential in every aspect of life.
J. R. Smith's incredible, man, just incredible off the bench.
The formula for a hit is saying what people want to hear.
I love the quality of TIDAL. I appreciate what they're trying to do and what they're trying to accomplish.
I was at a party New Year's Eve, and - no lie - at least 10 different people came up to me. One guy was like, 'I lost 30 pounds because of you.' So people just coming up to me. I don't know these people - random people.
Mister Cee's a legend, man.
We gotta be proud to be Latino. It's almost like we cheating because we're American and we live by American customs, but at the same time, we got that Latino culture. We cheating; we double dipping.
It feels as if I never get my just due.
