Fat Joe discusses his new album ‘Organized Rhyme’

Hip hop artist, actor, author, UP NYC owner, die-hard New York Knicks fan, and “Joe and Jada” podcast co-host Fat Joe hosted an intimate listening event recently for his new album, “Organized Rhyme,” before its Aug. 28 release date, at the Roc Nation building in Manhattan. The five-time Grammy nominee, who has collaborated with chart-topping divas Jennifer Lopez, Mary J. Blige, and Ashanti, discussed his motivation for making the album and the many featured guests at the event.

“First of all, let me just say, Pusha T inspired this whole album — the Clipse,” the Bronx native said about the long-running hip hop duo comprised of Malice and Pusha T, who released their critically acclaimed album, “Let God Sort Em Out,” in July 2025. “The whole rollout, the whole everything, because what happens is, they just made music. They ain’t trying to make a hit record. They just made beautiful music that we love. I think that’s the last album I had that got replay value. I’m in my pool, just keep playing the Clipse album when that first came out. I was like, for a whole month stuck on that, right?”

Fat Joe, born Joseph Cartagena, added how the more popular member of the Clipse — Pusha T — landed on his album.  

“We did the song [called “Set Of Keys”], and of course, the mastermind thinks of everything: Dre [of production team Cool & Dre] said, ‘you know, Pusha T would sound nice on this track.’ So I said, ‘You sure?’ He was like, ‘Yo, let’s go.’ So we hit him up, and he was like, ‘Yo, I got you, Crack.’ It took a little while. I hit him back. I said, ‘Yo, you got me?’ He said, ‘Nah, I got you.’ And that came through the pipeline.”​

​Fat Joe, who released his debut studio album “Represent” in 1993, had a hilarious response to a question about why his “Joe and Jada” podcast co-host did not appear on a third song on his latest album. “What, do you want me to put [Jadakiss] on every song? He did two verses; do you know how hard it is? You watch the show, ‘Joe and Jada’; I complain all the time. And he’ll lie to you.”

Jadakiss, who is also a member of the hip hop collective the Lox, called Fat Joe when he finished his verses so he could play them. He is featured on the songs “Victory Lap (HIM)” and “The Aroma.”

Fat Joe, who appeared in 11 episodes of Spike Lee’s Netflix series “She Gotta Have It,” also reached out to legendary Doobie Brothers member Michael McDonald to get him to record a song for the album, but the singer was unavailable. Instead, the Puerto Rican businessman recruited Steven Mackie to sing the chorus, and the song “Feelin A Way” was born; Fat Joe described the track as hip hop meets yacht rock.

The album also features Yung Miami, Remy Ma, and CeeLo Green, with production by Cool & Dre.