Fat Joe Calls Kanye West His Favorite Rapper: "He Made 'Jesus Walks'"

BYAron A.2.1K Views
Link Copied to Clipboard!
Stephane Cardinale/Corbis via Getty Images
Fat Joe has nothing but praise for Kanye West.

Fat Joe is a revered MC in his own right who rightfully deserves a spot among the best to ever do it. His catalog speaks for itself, and he's consistently pushing his pen with each release. However, some might be taken aback by who he puts at the top of his list of favorite rappers of all time.

Dave Hogan/Getty Images

During a recent interview on the I Am Athlete podcast, Joe offered praise for Kanye West as his "favorite rapper." "Kanye is my favorite rapper in the world, and I love him to death,” Fat Joe said. “He’s my favorite rapper, he’s been my favorite rapper. And I won’t turn my back on him, no matter what he do.”

Joe's unconditional appreciation for Ye is based on both his personal experiences being around the Chicago artist and the incredible catalog he has. Some people might be critical of Ye's political opinions but Joe said that Ye's contributions to the culture is bigger than that.

"He’s a genius, he’s incredible, and I fuck with him. A lotta people we cool with, they don’t vote like us, they don’t agree with everything, but we gotta fuck with him. He made ‘Jesus Walks,'" he said before addressing Ye's general behavior. "When Kanye West gets around me, he’s as normal, as real as he can be. No extra shit."

Check out the clip below and sound off with your thoughts. 



About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.