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Fat Joe On Bridging Hip-Hop and Reggaéton: ‘I Just Love Making Music For Everybody’
Fat Joe discusses his Latin heritage, hip-hop's influence on reggaeton and more ahead of Billboard Latin Music Week.
Two decades ago, while hip-hop maintained its cultural dominance, reggaetón began to carve out a niche in the global music scene, and Fat Joe — deeply connected to his Puerto Rican and Cuban heritage and known for his unmistakable New York swagger — bridged the two genres. Since then, he has consistently fused Latin influences with hip-hop, from his 2019 salsa-infused track “Yes” with Cardi B and Anuel AA (which samples Héctor Lavoe and Willie Colón’s “Aguanile”) to the more recent single “Paradise” with Anitta and DJ Khaled. It’s about time we teamed up with Anitta from Brazil and then DJ Khaled [with “Paradise,” which premiered at the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards] and make a Latino national anthem.
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