It wasn't easy to keep up with the opulence of the early 2000's rap game. Every artist was doing the most in terms of chains, cars and clothes. In his interview with Elliot Wilson for Tidal's "CRWN" series, Fat Joe admitted that he got carried away with the flexing during that time and it left him broke.
Joey Crack explained how this occurred after the success of his 2001 album, Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.), and its hit single "What's Luv?" Once the money started flooding in, he started pampering himself and his whole Terror Squad crew. "I made so much money that I was going to the bank every fucking day to get 50,000 in cash," he said. "Every n**** in my crew—30 n****s in the Bronx—has white fucking Cadillac trucks with TS chains on." He likens the prevalence of his team's stunting to a flu, "a virus of trucks."
Then, one day, things flipped around on him."So I go in there one day and the lady goes, 'Mr. Joe, there must be something wrong. There's no money in your bank account.'" Joe then gave a visceral description of what he experienced upon hearing that news. "My asshole got this tight, my n****... like the cartoons birds is going around your fucking head."
The story doesn't end there. Joe wasn't going to just wallow in his brokeness. "I left the bank, my n****," Joe continued. "You see the movies like Gladiator, Troy, 300? You know how they be coming in n****s' cribs for taxes? Taking the chickens, the cow, and shit? 'Any n**** owe me a dollar - go get that shit.' This gets bad because it's people we actually love." He then detailed one unnamed DJ who was aggressively targeted for $5,000 that he had owed Joe for ten years.
Today, Joe must be in a comfortable financial situation. If what Remy Ma said is correct, they're making 7 figures a year just off the royalties from "Lean Back" and "All The Way Up". His new (and potentially final) album, Family Ties, may spawn another hit for him to eat off. The Eminem feature on there is definitely raking in some streams from all the drama it stirred up.