Fat Joe

Fat Joe has reached his sixth album as a solo artist who has always made his music and his moves on his own terms. He entered the game on a platform with the D.I.T.C. crew and later the Terror Squad, and shocked everyone with his crossover smash hits on his 2001 J.O.S.E. album and last year’s "Lean Back.” The lacklustre content on All or Nothing is a direct result of the success of "Lean Back.” Fat Joe needed to score big with this one, to maintain the major exposure, the spins, and the ooh la la that comes with chart-topping releases. With the exception of certified bangers like the Just Blaze produced "Safe 2 Say” and the Cool & Dre produced "My Fofo,” this album is a blemish on Fat Joe’s otherwise very respectable track record as an MC who’s earned all of his respect. All or Nothing is a transparent attempt to be a huge, popular, chart topping album. However, the big names — Nelly, Scott Storch, R. Kelly, Timbaland, Lil Jon, Jennifer Lopez, and Eminem — don’t deliver this time. Instead they pull the album in too many different directions leaving Joey Crack left in the middle sounding substandard. Fat Joe has been delivering quality raw hip-hop on the underground circuit with DJ Kay Slay for the past three years and that’s where you should look for his best material because it’s not on this album.