Happy Fat Tuesday, y'all!
Rocks Off mentioned in a previous post, about rappers and Houston restaurants, that some of the best artists are "Big" and "Fat": Big Pokey, Fat Pat, Big Moe, etc. Every day is Fat Tuesday for these rappers. They're all about overindulgence and that's why we love them.
Fat Tuesday is essentially a one-day holiday of indulgence in preparation for the long, depressing season of Lent (from Ash Wednesday until Easter Sunday). Basically, for Christians, Lent consists of 40 days of repentance, self-denial and penance. And hella boring and somber church music. The idea is to get in as much sin as you can before your 40 days of penitential preparation.
In honor of this sinful celebration, we gathered together some tunes from a few recognizably "Fat" rappers. Ironically, most hip-hop artists from Louisiana are Lil'.
Fat Boys, "Jailhouse Rap": The Fat Boys were a hip-hop trio from Brooklyn, reaching the height of their success in the early 80's. The group was originally started through beatboxing, but evolved into a rock hip-hop group. They used tracks like "The Twist" and "Wipe Out" and lightheartedly rapped over the instrumentals.
Fat Joe "Shit Is Real": After losing over 100 pounds, dude still hasn't changed the moniker. Nevertheless, he's releasing his new album today. This track was a single on his debut album from 1993, Represent. Back then, he wasn't just Fat Joe. He was Fat Joe Da Gangsta. Hard to believe that 8 years later he'd release "What's Luv?" with Ja Rule.
Fat Man Scoop, "Be Faithful" "WHAT'S YA ZODIAC SIGN? WHAT'S YA ZODIAC SIGN?" Fat Man Scoop doesn't rap, in fact he's famous for screaming adlibs. But he puts together some really great party anthems, like this one from 1999. He had to get quite a few samples cleared, including Faith Evans' "Love Like This," The Beatnuts' "Off The Books" and Black Sheep's "The Choice is Yours".
Fat Pat, "Tops Drop": Fat Pat is undoubtedly the most esteemed fat rapper in H-town. Pat was shot and killed on Feb. 3, 1998, just before this single and debut album became a hit in the H. Two weeks after his death, Wreckshop released Ghetto Dreams. Like so many other Screwed Up Click members and affiliates, Fat Pat's life was taken long before his career took off. Wreckshop Records and Screwed Up Click Records went on to release posthumous hits years after his death.
