Lean Back rapper Fat Joe is secured to host the 2022 Bet Hip Hop Awards. The Bronx legend is already getting positive feedback from fellow rappers in the industry like his former rival 50 Cent who posted, “oh shit! it’s lit 🔥joe turning it up BET🏆” under a promo of the show with Joe saying “Yesterday’s Price Is Not Today’s Price”.
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Joe is also hyped about the forthcoming award show and he said, “This will be the BIGGEST award show in history,” Fat Joe tells Billboard. “It’s truly an honor to host and produce the BET Hip Hop Awards, and I can’t thank Connie [Orlando] and the entire BET family enough for this opportunity. We’re going to celebrate music, culture, and entertainment, honor the biggest and brightest stars in the world and make this an unforgettable night full of laughs and surprises. Always remember that yesterday’s host is not today’s host.”
The award show is set for September 30 and will be taped and aired exclusively on BET on October 4 at 9 p.m. ET. BET has already stated that they intend to return to the grassroots of the hip-hop culture, which explains why an icon of the genre was chosen to host.
Connie Orlando, BET’s EVP, described Fat Joe as Hip Hop royalty and a treasured friend of BET.
Born Joseph Antonio Cartagena, Fat Joe began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin’ in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a solo career and set up his own label, Terror Squad, to which he signed Big Pun who is the first solo latino rapper to earn a platinum album, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, Cuban Link, Armageddon, Prospect, Triple Seis, and a then-unknown DJ Khaled. He also discovered producers Cool & Dre.
Fat Joe’s debut solo album, Represent, was released in 1993 and spawned the single “Flow Joe”, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart.
His most commercially successful album to date was Jealous Ones Still Envy (J.O.S.E.) (2001); it was certified platinum by the RIAA and certified silver in the U.K. by the BPI.
Among his top songs are “Lean Back” (2004; with Terror Squad), “What’s Luv?” (2002; featuring Ashanti and Ja Rule), “Make It Rain” (2006; featuring Lil Wayne), and “All the Way Up” (2016; with Remy Ma featuring French Montana and Dre).
In 2018 he began hosting a podcast on Tidal, Coca Vision, where he discusses music, friendships, and pop culture with various guests. His last album Family Ties was released in December 2019.
