ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 04: TV personality Benzino attends the Atlanta private screening of "Mixed Girl" at Silverspot Cinema on May 04, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images); NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 26: Fat Joe attends Fat Joe's Organized Rhyme Album Listening Event on August 26, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Benzino shared his thoughts on the viral interview of Fat Joe claiming that he’s Black while defending his N-word usage. The rapper shared the clip on social media on Tuesday, September 8, and what he said may surprise some people.
Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Antonio Cartagena, sparked an online debate after appearing on a recent episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. The Puerto Rican artist grew up in the Bronx in New York City and claimed that he was “Black” when asked about his N-word usage.
The interview went viral as folks clapped back, and Benzino shared his thoughts on Instagram with the caption:
“Now lets talk about this ‘BEING BLACK’ topic.”
“So, we going to talk about this Fat Joe thing,” he said in the video. “I want y’all to walk with me….. First of all, to, to all Black people and everybody following this topic, when we talk about Black and Black culture, not everything is hip-hop. Not everything is hip-hop. Not, not, not everything that is Black culture is hip-hop culture. Not everything that has to do with Black people comes from a hip-hop point of view. All right? Okay. That’s number one.”
The artist, whose real name is Raymond Scott, went on to say that he understood Fat Joe.
“Number two,” he continued. “All right, when Fat Joe made his statement and I understood what he was talking about. I get it. I understood what he was talking about. He was talking about from a hip-hop perspective.”
He went on to explain that Black folks and Latinx people grew up together in the Bronx.
“He’s talking about from the New York hip-hop perspective, which means his perspective comes from the Bronx,” he added. “Where Black and Latino people have been assimilating and grew up together for years…. That’s what, you know, the city of New York is. And if you’re not from New York, you might not understand that. Okay?”
Benzino, who has African and Puerto Rican roots, also said that everyone around Fat Joe is Black. However, he also reminded people that not everything about being Black has to do with hip-hop.
“Black culture just isn’t hip-hop,” he continued. “So when you say those things, you got to understand the other side of the coin where there’s people who really look at Black culture through a different lens.”
The 61-year-old went on to reference the Civil Rights movement and the struggles Black people face.
“They look at it through the struggle, through the civil rights, through, the, through, the inequality, through, through, the through, the police brutality, through the murders, the killings, through all the issues and problems…. That’s the lens that the people who are disagreeing with Joe, that’s the lens they see Black culture. They don’t see it through a hip-hop lens.”
He also went on to say that there was no such thing as an “Afro-Latino” and that he could relate to Fat Joe’s New York upbringing.
“And another thing, there is no such thing as Afro Latino, he added. I don’t give a f*ck who agrees, who disagrees. There is no such Afro is a f*ckin hairstyle. Afro is a hairstyle. And I don’t know why people are so scared to say African. You’re African, man. Just say African. Don’t say Afro nothing. African.”
“But even when I went up on the block, this is where I side with Joe, because when I went up on the block, I was Black,” he added. “I didn’t know nothing about my Cape Verdean heritage. I’m light-skinned, but I’m Black. So, I understand Joe on that point. And a lot of guys understand it because when you come up in the hood together, you, you know, Latinos, understand the sh*t what the hood’s going through.“
He added that “not a lot” of Latinos march with Black people in racial instances, such as when the police murdered George Floyd and Michael Brown. He also said that many light-skinned Latinos don’t rock with dark-skinned folk.
“Being Black happens to be a struggle,” he continued. “And being Black, you go through a lot. Of course it’s beautiful. Wouldn’t want to be anything else but what comes with it, in this f*ckin’ country, is a lot…. So if you want to identify as Black, well, you got to be down for the bad part of being Black, too…. Are you speaking out against these things that have to do with Black being Black?”
Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Antonio Cartagena, appeared on The Joe Budden Podcast‘ recently, and he ruffled feathers after saying that he’s Blck. The rapper grew up in New York Citys Bronx neighborhood and expressed his view that he is Black.
The artist made the comment after he was asked about why he still uses the N-word.
“I am Black,” he said.
Not only that, he claimed to be the “Blackest n*gga.”
“Fat Joe is the Blackest n*gga you ever seen in your life,” he stated. “Thats, go look it up!”
He also defended using the N-word during an interview with The Breakfast Club back in 2022. Fat Joe said that he grew up in a Black neighborhood and thought he was Black. He also said that he was not going to stop using the N-word.
My grandmothers projects is 99.9 percent Black, to be clear,hesaid.So Im Spanish. I knew I was Latino, but the whole time I thought I was Black anyway….. The first thing is they go, Oh, look at this little n*gga Joey. He got green eyes. The minute Im walking, the guys in the building is like, Yo, look at that little n*gga Joe, little Fat Joe. Thats all I knew my whole life before even elementary.
Fans reacted after the clip was shared on TSR’s Instagram page. Several fans liked what Benzino had to say while others commented on Fat Joe’s interview.
User @jayb5744 wrote, “Well said brother.”
@bigd0487 wrote, “Joe basically said his proximity to blk ppl and hip hop gives him that luxury. I disagree but to each is own.”
