Early Life
Fat Joe was born on August 19, 1970 in the southern Bronx area of New York City, where he was raised by parents of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent. He lived in public housing and began stealing at a young age to support his family. He also states that he was a bully in his childhood. His brother introduced him to rap music. As a teenager, he was highly influenced by fellow Latino rapper Big Pun. Fat Joe explained the rapper's influence on him by saying "Latinos before us who had the opportunity to do it just didn't know how to do it. They came in trying to do this black music, waving flags. we're trying to kick in the doors for other Latinos and represent our people, and it shows."
Read more about this topic: Fat Joe
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
—Bible: New Testament St. Paul, in Romans, 6:23.