Fat Joe — Represent

Debut studio album by Bronx rapper Joseph Cartagena aka Fat Joe da Gangsta, a bully raised in the Bronx between dealing and crime, destined for an inglorious end, and saved by hip-hop. A member of the D.I.T.C. collective, the boy is blessed with a production made mainly by the group's beatmakers, such as Diamond D, Lord Finesse and Showbiz. DJ Rock Raider, The Beatnuts and Chilly Dee also contribute to the rhythms.

The record is opened by "Scarface", and there are some menacing bars, street life and some gangsterism, however, the album is almost completely braggadocio. The MC delivers many battle raps and stays true to the album title, paying homage to Boogie Down Productions numerous times and representing the Bronx. He offers simplistic hooks and generic lyrics, with elementary metric patterns (AABB) that can't hold three stanzas, which is why the rapper often stops at two: from this point of view, Fat Joe isn't very inspired, nevertheless, he spits his own bars with a cheerful and youthful, energetic and hardcore rapping style, making a solid hardcore record that features some gems.

The MC tries to produce a couple of bangers. In "Flow Joe", he's smoother like never before over a NY jazzy beat provided by Diamond D, and even the hook works. "Bad Bad Man" is a nice work by Diamond, simply paved by the genius of Biggie in "Gimme the Loot". The Beatnuts form the rhythm of "The Shit Is Real", skeletal jazzy production enhanced by xmas bells in the background, with hook sampled by, in which the rapper makes one of his best songs ever with a great smooth hardcore performance; the cut is improved by Preemo in the following album released by Fat Joe. Gismo, Kieth Kieth and King Sun revel in the posse "Another Wild Nigger From the Bronx", over a Chilly Dee beat, while the other guests all perform clearly superior to Joe.

In the powerful and post-apocalypse bleak boom bap realized by Diamond D in "Watch the Sound", a futuristic beat that seems almost released from "Blade Runner" (same mood created by Show in the next track), Diamond & Grand Puba flow well, while Apache and Kool G Rap show up on the track "You Must Be Out of Your Fuckin' Mind". Apache does his thing, then gives way to G Rap who kills the track at the second verse, Joey Crack trying to puts a verse up to the previous one, but Kool G Rap has already blown everything up before.

Distributed by Relativity and Violator, the album manages to enter the top 50 of the rap chart and gets mixed reviews from critics. The beats provided by the producers, including Diamond D, the most committed to the record, are composed of a simple jazzy boom bap, with a slow and pounding hard drum, and horns samples: overall, the soundscape created is underground, dusty and raw, bleak and dark compared to the typical New York music carpet of the period, it's one of the few albums that anticipate the sound that will then evolve into mafia rap. It's one of the best records released by Fat Joe, recommended for East Coast fans.

Highlights: "Livin' Fat", "Watch the Sound", "Flow Joe", "The Shit Is Real", "You Must Be Out of Your Fuckin' Mind".

Rating: 7.5/10.