During a recent interview, Fat Joe discussed his feud with 50 Cent. The artist says that he was shocked 50 Cent ever had the nerve to diss him, because he was feared at that point in his career. According to him, 50 Cent came at him due to his association with Ja Rule. "He just felt like I was giving him that strength," he begins. "It was so brilliant because it was the shock and awe effect."
“Although I worked for everything I got, although I never extorted nobody, although I didn’t bully nobody,” he continued, “I had the persona of New York Suge Knight. Like, y’know, people feared Fat Joe and the Terror Squad in that way, y’know? So for [50 Cent] talking about Fat Joe in the same city … the funeral homes was making bids.”
Fat Joe Says He Was Like A "New York Suge Knight"
The artist continues, describing how due to both of their reputations, the feud couldn't go "nowhere but violence." Fat Joe says "thank God" they squashed the beef in light of Chris Lighty's 2012 death, revealing that he and Fif are "the best of friends" now. "It was a very tense moment," he explains, "it was almost like a suicide mission."
Fat Joe goes on to claim that he learned a lot from his feud with 50 Cent, because he was the first person to actually come at him. "I had to adapt," he reflects, "I had to learn how to not be impulsive." He then describes the "growing pains" he experienced in learning how to navigate social media. "Social Media," he explains, "it's not for real real street guys. We just don't know how to react on there." The artist even adds that he thinks his crew coming into contact with 50 Cent at the 2012 BET Awards for a Chris Lighty tribute was a "set-up." "His trailer was in front of ours," he reveals, "Like come on, what [do you think is] gonna happen?"