Fat Joe

NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert done the Don Joey Crack way looks a bit different from the other bespoke office concerts. With a camera trailing behind him, Fat Joe enters the premises where his Terror Squad is in ready position, spitting “I stand alone in this cold world” — the first verse from his 2001 origin story track, “My Lifestyle.”

“What’s good, Tiny Desk?” Joe said, flanked in a denim Louis Vuitton bucket hat, baby blue aviators, and a Barbie-pink leather jacket. Against a backdrop of designer sneakers encased in glass, the Bronx emcee ran through some of his biggest in his 30-year career, including his monumental Song of the 2002 Summer, “What’s Luv?” Vocalist Angelica Vila expertly handled the Ashanti parts and the salsa dancing parts, matching the Don in a long hot-pink blazer.

“Luv” ripped into the undulating “Lean Back” — where the tiny desk was, predictably, leaned on — and then Joe’s new single, “Sunshine (The Light).” The new track uses a Heaven-sent mashup by DJ Amorphous, of Rihanna’s 2016 song “Kiss It Better” and Luther Vandross’ 1981 song “Never Too Much.”

“I love you Luther,” Joe said, pausing for a reflective moment before performing his Terror Squad anthem, “All the Way Up.” Having released his first new single since 2019, the 50-year-old rapper contemplated the difficulty of staying both authentic and fresh in the music industry.

“I tell ’em all the time — that your darkest moments bring you the most clarity. It’s hard to start from nothing, make something of yourself, and have ’em rip it all away, start back from scratch … Who’s gonna come back, 40-years-old as a rapper? Well shit, Tina Turner did it at 48. Terror Squad means loyalty, trust, respect, and honor. Most of all, we never give up.”