Terror Squad founder and Bronx legend Fat Joe recently took to social media to explain how he got his iconic nickname ‘Joey Crack’, and it was unexpected, to say the least, and took many hip-hop fans by surprise.
Since 2020, during lockdown, Fat Joe has been hosting the Fat Joe Show, an organic social media series he started where he hosts legendary hip-hop and R’n’B figures on Instagram Live, and over the past three years, the emcee has opened up about all kinds of behind the scenes situations and made all sorts of revelations.
That said, the ‘Lean Back’ artist has opened up about so much he has become one of the most transparent figures and has been more than happy to share intimate details with fans, even to his detriment.
However, no one was expecting his nickname ‘Joey Crack’, which he has had since the 1990s, to have such comical roots. The lyricist (real name Jose Cartagena) has opened up about his childhood in the derelict Forest Houses projects surrounded by drugs but told fans his name had nothing to do with crack cocaine.
Taking to X/Twitter, the artist wrote, “They call me Joey crack cause the crack of my ass show whenever I stand up girls in my hood gave me the name [laughing emoji] it was never because the drug crack God is great.”
Many of his followers were surprised that Cartagena could be so proud of something so embarrassing. They also expressed how they would have kept it a secret. One person commented, “Batman couldn’t have got this info out of me. On god, you should have keep that one to yourself, gang.” At the same time, another wrote, “I love you, and you’re a legend, but I woulda took this to the grave.”
However, not all of Cartagena’s fans were so critical. Many admired his honesty even though it made both him and the name less gangster, with one user writing, Growing up off 90’s Hip-Hop, and I never knew that. That’s actually some real shit to even admit.”