“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.”

American rapper

Fat Joe, born Joseph Antonio Cartagena, is an American rapper who came to prominence in the 1990s. He is known for his work with Diggin' in the Crates Crew, for launching a solo career, and for forming Terror Squad and its record label. He began recording with D.I.T.C. in 1991 and released his first studio album, Represent, in 1993. In the late 1990s, he built Terror Squad and signed New York artists including Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, Cuban Link, Triple Seis, and producers DJ Khaled and Cool & Dre.