The Birthplace Represents... Again

"Gangsters in New York are like niggas who hold their own, got their crew with them, and are well respected, getting dough. That's what we call a gangster" — Fat Joe



Skeletons of burnt out buildings litter strewn vacant lots slip by me by the hundreds. I'm looking out the window of the #5 train, traveling uptown in the Bronx when I notice a cutthroat looking kid walking past me — for the third time. He's walking very slowly, eyeing everybody, sizing them up. For a moment we lock eyes. They're not the eyes of a friend. Gold teeth gleam as he grins. It's a wicked smile that says very plainly, "I ain't to be fucked with."

"Someone's not leaving this train with everything they got on with," I think to myself, but today's not my day to get stuck up. The kid, seeing that I have nothing of great value, walks past me and onto the next car with his murderous thoughts.

I turn my attention back to the barren Beirut-like landscape which surrounds me, the land that bred me, and think about the rich history of this place, the Boogie Down Bronx, the birthplace of hip hop. Little did I know that several years later, just a few blocks away in Forest Houses, a group of artists would arise determined to make their mark on the history of hip hop.

The Diggin' in the Crates crew — Lord Finesse the Technician, Showbiz & Andre the Giant, and Diamond D the dusty fingered one — has indeed become a landmark crew, giving us such hits as "Soul Clap," "Sally Got a One Track Mind," and the slept on "You Know what I'm About" off of the Trespass soundtrack. Between the four, they've released four albums, more than nine singles, produced countless tracks for other artists, and sold hundreds of thousands of records. These milestone accomplishments alone would be enough for most any crew, but DITC was not satisfied. A good businessman always looks toward the future, and Diggin' in the Crates is no different. Enter the future, the fifth member of DITC, the gangster of the crew.

"Yeah man, I'm gangster Joe. Muthafuckas have been calling me that before rap for being a live nigga, a nigga they don't fuck with. And if they did, I'd bring it to them."

Fat Joe first gained his fame as a roughneck graffiti writer in the South Bronx. Graffiti? "Yeah, graffiti. 'Crack,' T.S. and T.A.T. Those were my crews. T.A.T. — that's Bio, Nicer, Brim, B.G. 183. I still piece when I ain't got nothing to do, no busy shit. My crew is legendary." (You can see some of his work, dedicated to his late friend Anthony, on the back of Represent album.)

As Joe grew older, life in rough Forest Houses, one of the most crime ridden housing projects in New York, began to take its toll. Things changed. Survival soon became a struggle.

"Before I was rapping, I did what I had to do to get paid. I used to stick niggas up. I wasn't a bully, but niggas turned me into one. I was always trying to do good in school, but muthafuckas don't care if you're trying to do good. They just keep on trying to step to you, trying to fuck your head up. So then after a while you don't give a fuck about the next man 'cause you feel like, hey, muthafuckas is setting it on me. Shit was real fucked up." However, all of that soon changed, thanks largely to the efforts of Lord Finesse.

"When we were growing up, we always used to rap and battle each other — Diamond, Showbiz, Finesse, all of us. We never really took it seriously because in every ghetto you go to, everywhere you go, there's a million rappers, and niggas don't know how they're going to get record deals. But Finesse kept on working on it hard. He won the New Music Seminar rapping battle then he got a record deal. Once he showed us that he could get a record deal, everyone was like, 'Yo, wussup?'

Finesse's dreams were realized with the release of his first album Funky Technician, but he knew there was still much work to be done. The rest of Diggin' in the Crates had to come out. Lord Finesse immediately put his man Andre the Giant (AG) down on his album, setting up the release of Showbiz & AG's debut album Runaway Slave.

Meanwhile, while Diamond D was busy producing and working on his own record, Fat Joe continued rapping, stockpiling rhyme after rhyme. Finally the news came: Relativity records was interested in signing. It wasn't until some time later, however, that the scope of the matter sunk in.

"I was working on my album, and Grand Puba came by the studio. We'd been cool for years 'cause of Zulu Nation. He was like, 'Yo Joe, wussup? I wanna rhyme on your album.' I was like, 'What? You with it?' I thought he was bullshittin' 'cause his shit was crazy hype. '360' was the bomb at the time. I didn't think he was serious."

Now at age twenty-eight, life has vastly improved for Joe. He has a son, Baby Joe, and a wife; a North Bronx apartment with all the furnishings; a successful store in the Bronx; and two albums out with a third on the way. He has spawned several minor hits and has continued the Bronx's hip hop legacy by pushing forth new artists such as Big Punisher. The Boogie Down represents...again.



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