We’re receiving yet another look at moments in Hip Hop history thanks to A&E’s Origins of Hip Hop. The series will reportedly highlight the origin stories of several of our favorite artists by not only speaking with them, but with their friends, family members, and collaborators. The musicians will discuss their childhoods, obstacles they have faced, and how they rose to fame, and in a clip, Fat Joe detailed the moment he became “Joey Crack.”
“Since two years old, he’s Fat Joey forever,” said Joe. “When I was in junior high they would bully me every day. You know, I’m not gonna lie, it’s scary looking out the classroom window knowing that there’s 20 guys waiting to beat my ass. They never fought me fair. They would always jump me.”
Jamie McCarthy / Staff / Getty Images
When he was younger, Fat Joe explained that he had a best friend named Leonard and they would do all the fun kid activities like play video games. Then, one day, those bullies confronted Leonard and asked why he was hanging out with Joe. The rapper said that Leonard let it be known that Joe was his friend.
“They were like, ‘Well if you don’t jump him with us, we’re gonna beat you up every day too — and my friend Leonard jumped me with them,” Fat Joe revealed. “I went home and I cried for so many hours. I had a black hoodie on, black jeans and black Timberland chukkas. I’m tying my chukkas over and over again and I was like, ‘I don’t give a f*ck I swear to God, giving it to everybody. That was the birth of Joey Crack.”
“That was like, ‘I don’t give a f*ck about nobody, care about nobody, I am giving it to everybody. My heart turned black that day; I just lost it.”
Fans can tune in on Monday (May 30) to watch the premiere episode of Origins of Hip Hop to hear the rest of Fat Joe’s story.
[via]