September begins with the Bronx—and by that I mean, Bronx-born Latino rapper, the one and only, Don Cartagena, aka Fat Joe. And what better way to kick off the beginning of the ber-months, than listening to Cartagena’s self-entitled third album.
On this day, 18 years ago, Fat Joe released Don Cartagena, the third collection after his debuting Represent album, and the 1995 hit Jealous One’s Envy—both of which are also highly-recommended listen-to’s by the way.
Released under Terror Squad, Mystic, Big Beat, and Atlantic Records, Don Cartagena entered the Hip-hop scene with much gusto. The album debuted at #7 for the Billboard 200, and peaked on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums’ #2.
Fans, however, welcomed Don Cartagena with mixed responses. Highly-characterized with a gansgsta-rap aura and image, Fat Joe’s third album presented a slight deficit in this tone. You’ll hear gunshots gliding in the background, as well as monologues pertaining to the Cartagena bloodline; unfortunately, these aspects seem to have faded into “a semi-sublime Hip-hop opera”.
Nevertheless, the album features Cartagena the artist, incorporating new beats and fresh styles into Fat Joe’s gangsta-mix. Listeners simply cannot refuse applauding “Bet Ya Man Can’t Triz” and the album-title track “Don Cartagena”. And if you haven’t listened to them, today marks the perfect moment to do so.
The album contains collaborations with Nas, Diddy, Big Pun, Raekwon, Jadakiss, and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Interestingly, it was through this album that Fat Joe introduced his own “Terror Squad” group, which rostered Big Pun, Cuban Link, Triple Seis, Prospect, Armageddon, and eventually Remy Ma.
By Jods Arboleda for RAPStation.com
