Fat Joe speak out on rappers getting murdered much more frequently than before.
The wave of increased violence in the hip hop community over the course of this year has been impossible to miss. Following the shooting deaths of Pop Smoke, King Von, and MO3, as well as close calls for several other rappers as a result of gun violence, many veteran artists have come forward to speak publicly about the trend and why it needs to come to an end immediately. The latest to offer his opinion on the matter is Fat Joe, who spoke about the risks rappers face with fellow rapper Maino on his Instagram Live show, The Fat Joe Show.
Fat Joe was in the Christmas spirit for his newest episode, wearing a Santa hat and featuring his decorated Christmas tree in the background.
However, the subject matter of his conversation with Maino was very serious, touching on the deaths and incarceration of several rappers this year. “Rappers are in danger,” said Joe. “We seein’ rappers getting murdered every day. We’re seein’ rappers go to jail for big sh*t. This ain’t little sh*t, Maino, right?” Joe went on to ask Maino how he manages to stay out of harm’s way in these difficult times.
Reflecting on his time in prison and what keeps him on a positive path, Maino replied, “When you working toward something, you’ve got a purpose. You set these goals for yourself, you got somewhere to go with that. The problem is that we losing focus on what is important and what’s not.” Both artists went on to echo several other OG rappers who have spoken out in recent months to say that hip hop is meant to be a way out of difficult circumstances, not a path towards more violence. Joe recalled using his music career to create a better life for himself, saying, “Boom, I moved on and never looked back.”
