July 19, 2023
Fat Joe Drops 200 Pounds And Talks Hip-Hop Wellness & Battling Depression To Save His Own Life
Fat Joe is opening up about his life-changing decision to lose 200 pounds and confront his battle with depression to live his best life at 52 years old.
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The New York- born rapper spoke to Men’s Health about once weighing 470 pounds and being inspired to start prioritizing his overall wellness following the unexpected death of his friend and fellow rapper, Big Pun.
“I went to his funeral and I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge. Like, I seen me,” Fat Joe said. “And I’m looking at his little daughter. She was the same age as my daughter. I said, ‘You gotta lose weight; otherwise you outta here.'”
Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Antonio Cartagena, was determined to conquer not only his physical and mental demons in an effort to reclaim crucial years of his life.
His struggles with depression were often the hardest to overcome, telling Men’s Health his mental health was “the most complex Rubik’s Cube you could ever, ever, ever, ever try to figure out”.
“That’s what depression was like to me,” he said. “When you’re fighting yourself, there isn’t a wall high enough that you can build. There isn’t an island you can go to. There isn’t a place you can go to where you get away from it, because you’re fighting your mind. You wake up, and then the minute you think about it, your brain sends you a message to say, ‘We’re not supposed to be happy.’ And then you fall right back into depression.”
Now the rapper says he focuses on the small things that truly bring him joy and embraces each part of his health journey with open arms. However, not everyone has congratulated Fat Joe on his inspiring weight loss—least of all those who saw themselves reflected in his image.
“I said, ‘Man, I thought you guys would be happy for me! Because I’m getting healthier,'” Fat Joe said, recalling a conversation he had with a fan. “And he said, ‘Nah, man, we feel like you left us. For years, you’ve been telling us being a fat guy is cool. We got upset with you, the big boys.’”
Still, the “Lean Back” rapper stands by his decision and hopes his supporters will understand that it was a matter of life or death.
“They didn’t realize I was just thinking about, yo, I really wanna be here for a long time,” he said. “I really want to work out. I really want to be healthy. I wanna be here.”