Fat Joe

I make hit records. I make hit records to motivate the people.

I could battle rap forever, but it's a joke to me.

Every ghetto you go to, Latinos and blacks are the two people that are together. We don't look at each other in any different way, like 'He's black; I'm Latino.' I look at us as one.

Minorities have been hustling backwards from check to check.

As U.S. citizens, Puerto Rico has paid their part.

I love the quality of TIDAL. I appreciate what they're trying to do and what they're trying to accomplish.

I think I'll die underrated, but it's alright, man.

I make hits.

I'm not just a rapper. I'm a child educator.

Biggie has been the logo for success, the logo for doing it big - from popping champagne, the ladies, the fashion.

For artists, the majority of the money we make comes from us being on the road and touring.

I love owning my masters.

When I introduce you to somebody, his name is Big Pun. When I introduce you to somebody, his name is DJ Khaled. When I introduce you to an artist, her name is Remy Ma. If I introduce you to somebody, it's Cool and Dre or Scott Storch - people who change the face of the game.

During my successes or my failures, I put it on me.

There are 3.5 million Americans in Puerto Rico. So, just like we're quick to go everywhere else and help, we expect that same of America for Puerto Rico. These are U.S. citizens!

Hector Lavoe is the greatest of all time. Marc Anthony is the second greatest.

I was scared to fly for a long time.

I beefed with 50 Cent for seven years.

Puerto Rico is a powerful island.

Culturally, the arts of Puerto Rico is really unmatched by any other island.

Latinos been a part of hip-hop culture and every other culture; we've been influential in every aspect of life.

We gotta be proud to be Latino. It's almost like we cheating because we're American and we live by American customs, but at the same time, we got that Latino culture. We cheating; we double dipping.

If you look at history, at the first time hip-hop was invented, there was a Latino right there. How they got erased, I don't know how that all came about.

I stay around the young boys in the studio; I want to learn from them, and at the same time, I have a lot to offer them.

Any time Khaled comes to your video, it just steps it up that much more. He's so fun; people love him.

I collaborate with Tidal because they're for the artists - the up and coming artists and the O.G.s in the game. It's like a home, the only place we have for the artists to find support.

There's no such thing as too much. If there's too much, then that's a great thing.

KRS One and LL Cool J are the biggest influences in my rap career, along with Heavy D.

I grew up pretty much with nothing.

Nobody in my family before me ever had anything.

We took Big Pun, a 700-lb Spanish guy, one of the greatest rappers ever, and made him a sex symbol. Women would wait on line to kiss him.

I always loved being fat, obviously. I'm Fat Joe.

If I could gain 1,000 pounds and be healthy, I would love to do that.

The biggest killer of people is food.

This world is too hard for me to leave my kids, without me supervising and being there for them.

All rappers exaggerate.

My parents are overweight, and I think the biggest problem we have in America is a lack of education. The place to start is with parents and teaching them to cook healthier.

I'm addicted to food, so if you bring the cake and stuff to my house, I might walk by and take a swipe of icing and keep it moving. So what happens is I try to not keep it around.

I think I weighed about 450/460 at my heaviest. That's huge! That's Fat Joe. And you know, I always took pride in being fat.

Being that I always perform, I started working out with a trainer to get that endurance and stamina. Now, I guess you could call me a gym rat.

As long as you get your education and you stay focused, you can do anything.

After the success of my first album and the success of 'Flow Joe' kind of faded, I was struggling to make some money and make ends meet.

I would bump A Tribe Called Quest in my car all day.

I was really from the streets, and I really did hustle in a major way. When I got my record deal, I left the streets alone as far as hustling. I never, ever hustled again. I said, 'I'm gonna change my life, I'm going legit. This is where I'm at.'

'Envy' was a bit of a challenge for me. It was smooth.

I realized, at a certain point, all my big people were dying. I couldn't see a clearer picture: what's the difference between me and him, of me being in a casket?

Donald Trump, you already know. We can't have that guy in office.

What I do like about Donald Trump is that he's not bought by the lobbyists. He put up his own money, funded his own campaign. That means he's nobody's puppet.

I wish we had more diversity.

There isn't a country I ain't touch in Africa. I just came back from South of France, I toured China, Japan, wherever you name, 60,000 people come out to see Fat Joe.