[Intro]
Ah yeah!
Da Fat Gangsta
[Chorus]
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
[Verse 1]
Bust it, check it, watch how I wreck it
Niggas watch your back, shit is gettin hectic
I catch vibes like Count Basie, sucker won't face me
I'm so much flavor you can taste me
I'm underground like a gutter
You never catch me stutter, everybody knows that I'm butter
I'm not the man with sensitivity
The name is Fat Joe, the label's Relativity, huh
I chop a rapper like a meat cleaver
I'm burnin' hot, people think I have a fever, check it
If niggas wanna front, then come with it
If you're havin second thoughts, well then forget it, see
I dig in my crates, I don't perpatrates
I got shit sewn, like Billy Bathgate
Beware like Koco, yo I'm not a slow boat
Got so much dough I vacate in Acapulco
Crazy as they come I'm not the one
We can do this with the hands, or take it to the guns
You know I can flow, the name is Fat Joe
I can flow, I can flow, I can flow
[Chorus]
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
[Verse 2]
Everybody knows Fat Joe's in town
Nuff respect for the Boogie Down
I'm livin in the Bronx on an ave called Trinity
My name rings bells within the vicinity
Peace to the money makers always plottin' mono
Together we gettin' dough, just like Lucky Luciano
People always tell me, yo, you're dope Joe
But I'm not a car, so I don't get gassed like Amoco
Never ate the paint, no I'm not a sucker
Never liked ball, so to Hell with the Rucker
Always on my own, never sweatin' nobody
Warm up a crowd like a bottle of Bacardi
I can kick it this way, I can kick it that away
I kick a funky style, from New York to Piscataway
Suckers best scram
Now in '93, it's all about the Fat Man
Peace to Finesse, Showbiz and A.G
Gizmo , Little Hec', and Kool Mike-ski (say what?)
My crew from Uptown
And if you mess around, then you'll catch a beat down
See, I got this in a smash
If a rapper steps up, he'll get smoked like a blunt full of hash
My style of rap is legendary
Fuck with the man, then you'll end up in the cemetery
And that's word to Ma Duke
I never fake moves, I'll go out like a troop
So act like you know, the name is Fat Joe
I can flow, I can flow, I can flow
[Chorus]
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
[Verse 3]
See, I rip the mic if you put me to a test
Troop it gets so bad, I make you wanna wear a vest
Cause I'm too hot to handle
Knockin' niggas out like Livingstone Bramble
Rappers come heavy, but yo I weigh a ton
I won't lose weight 'cause I'm not on the run
I'm on point like a sniper, hyper than the hyper
On the DL, overlooked by C-Cipher
Never get caught, I'm on top with my game
Flip a fat ride, there's no need for a train
Rappers come close, but they just can't make it
When it comes to the funk, you know I won't fake it
Peace to Serge, and my right hand Flex
And when I grab the mic nobody wants to rock next
The name is Fat Joe, cause Joe is livin' Fat
Niggas gettin' jealous cause I got a contract
But I don't sweat it, I know the style is raw
You can't compare me to a cornball
And you know I kick game like a hottie
Now in '93, they should free John Gotti
If you step, battle and I'm gonna mash your toes
You know I got the flow
[Chorus]
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
You gotta flow, Joe, you gotta flow, Joe
You gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta let 'em know, Joe
Nat “Gizmo” Robinson, who is featured on Represent’s “Another Wild Nigga From The Bronx”
Lucky Luciano was an Italian-born, naturalized American mobster who was considered the father of modern organized crime in the United States. This man had a lot of a large amount of money.
So Fat Joe wants himself and other money-makers to make a lot of money, just like Lucky Luciano did, but maybe not by doing crime.
Referring to the 1991 American film Billy Bathgate! Billy Bathgate is a 1991 American gangster film directed by Robert Benton, starring Loren Dean as the title character and Dustin Hoffman as real-life gangster Dutch Schultz.
Since Joe and his flow are hardcore, he wants to separate himself from people like R&B singer Ralph Tresvant, where the New Edition frontman told the ladies “you need a man with sensitivity, a man like me” in his hit 1991 single “Sensitivity.”
Fat Joe also shouts out his label Relativity Records, which could also be a play on his message of “relativity” to consumers of his Bronx boom bap brand of hip-hop.
A play on words:
- The word “gassed” can be used when one’s head has been filled with so many compliments, or has been hit on so much that their mindstate is erred with the belief they’re better than everyone else.
- “Gassed” is also used when a car gets supplied with gas. Amoco (1889 – 2002) was a global chemical and oil company that was founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States. It provided gasoline for vehicles.
Fat Joe is saying that people always tell him that he’s such a great rapper, which can’t make him an arrogant guy, he still stays humble.
Kool Mike Ski is a DJ from the Bronx who featured Joe on mixtapes like The Birthday Mixtape in the ‘90s:
Rappers come to Fat Joe on the mic heavy – which means a good challenge -, but in terms of weight Fat Joe will always be victorious. Fat Joe claims to weight a ton (around 2000 pounds) but he is only exaggerating. Around this time (1993) he weighted 300-350, so either way he weighs a lot.
Took time to shoutout a few of the members from his Diggin in the Creates crew.
The Holcombe Rucker Park is a basketball court in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, at 155th Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard, just east of the former Polo Grounds site. It is geographically at the base of a large cliff named Coogan’s Bluff. Many who played at the park in the Rucker Tournament achieved a level of fame for their abilities, and several have gone on to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Fat Joe wasn’t a hooper, most guys from New York are ballers but Joey Crack wasn’t letting you know that wasn’t his thing. Joey would later go on in years to come and coach teams in the Rucker which is quite funny. Check out the interview below of Joey Crack speaking on his later involvement in the Rucker Park.
Fat Joe released his debut album “Represent” including this song in 1993, when he was still a little-known Hip Hop artist.
He’s saying the album would be such a big hit, and everybody would know about him and his music after the release of the album.
This song actually peaked at the Billboard 100 by late 1993.
And some Hip-Hop heads usually consider the debut album one of his greatest projects.
Livingstone Bramble is a former world champion boxer from the 80s. Like Fat Joe he was of Caribbean descent, hailing from Saint Kitts and Nevis.
To flow means to rap or bust a rhyme. Around this time Joe was new in the game and was out to let the whole world know that he gets busy.
Punning simile that plays upon the name of WWF professional wrestler Koko B. Ware.
