I need to take this opportunity to acknowledge the newest member of the Bronx Walk of Fame, Fat Joe.
I led with the “Twinz” video from 1998 because (A) It features the late, great Bronx rapper Big Punisher (RIP), (B) It’s a 90s hip hop classic that possibly improved on another hip hop classic, “Deep Cover (187),” by Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre (Snoop’s debut, in fact), and (C) Fat Joe’s line while the beat drops: “Creep with me / As a cruise in my Beamer / While all the kids in the ghetto call me Don Cartagena.” That always got me pumped. Classic. I can just picture an early 20s (then-Assemblyman) Ruben Diaz, Jr., who considers Fat Joe a friend, bumping this while rolling up to Albany for another productive session of the New York State Legislature.
Fat Joe’s pending induction led me to a couple of questions. Is Fat Joe the most popular Bronx rapper of all-time? If it’s not Fat Joe, then who is it?
First, here’s a list of Bronx rappers I found on Yahoo (not sure if it’s entirely accurate, but it’s a start):
Funky Four Plus One
Melle Mel
KRS One
T La Rock
D-Nice
Nine
Percee P
Sadat X
AG
Lord Finesse
Diamond D
Big Pun
Fat Joe
Armageddon
Triple Seis
Cuban Link
Prospect
Lord Tariq
Peter Gunz
Cory Gunz
Remy Martin
Tru Life
Hell Rell
C-Rayz Walz
Bamboo
Drag-On
Doo Wop
Kool Keith
Greg Nice
Smooth B
Now, these are the hip-hoppers on the Bronx Walk of Fame: KRS-ONE, DJ Red Alert, Afrika Bambaata, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Caz, Rock Steady Crew, Grand Wizard Theodore.
Besides KRS, the others on the Walk of Fame list aren’t known as straight rappers. In the previous list, it would be hard to say any of them has produced or sold more records than Fat Joe, who came into the game 19 years ago and has 10 albums to his credit.
So, again, I’ll ask, is there a more popular Bronx rapper than Fat Joe? Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments section. (We’ll save the debate for “best” Bronx rapper for another time.)
Finally, we’ll leave you with his first single, “Flow Joe,” from 1993 (Enjoy your weekend):
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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Props to the Bronx, Where it all began.
So sad to hear that you Forgot about Tim Dawg
Me…the futrure
I’ll ask anyone to name ten Fat Joe hits.
I can easily name ten of KRS-One’s.
The Bridge is Over
South Bronx
The P is Free
Super Hoe
I’m Still #1
Jimmy
Jack of Spades
Love’s Gonna Getcha
Outta Here
Sound of Da Police
Ask Fat Joe who he thinks is the most popular Bronx rapper of all-time and I bet he’ll say KRS-One. No disrespect, but if you think that title belongs to Fat Joe, you started listening to hip hop in the late 90’s.
Additionally, you can add these names to your list of Bronx rappers:
Grandmaster Caz
Busy Bee Starski
Soulsonic Force (Afrika Bambaataa’s group)
Furious Five (if you list Melle Mel, you should also list the rest of the group: Kidd Creole, Mr. Ness, Rahiem, Cowboy)
Slick Rick
Ultramagnetic MC’s (Kool Keith was with these guys)
Positive K
Tim Dog
Rahzel (also was in Ultramagnetic)
Sonny Cheeba (Camp Lo)
Geechie Suede (Camp Lo)
You KNOW that’s right!!!
as far as the most popular bx rapper i would have to agree but there are some up and coming bx rappers that seem to be the ones about to take over for example
You forgot one more The Cold Crush Brothers.
For me, at Madrid, Spain… KRS-ONE it’s the most popular Bronx rapper of all time.
I’m 38 years old and still sounds, rhythms ‘n rhymes of this type in my brain.
Everyone down with Bronx hip-hop should be looking at the latest MC to be making moves in the hip hop world, DJ East 137. His content is out of control. When it gets out, it’s not going to stop. Check him our for sure.
How the hell you all get forgot about Kool Herc. That’s sad