Remy Ma Defends Fat Joe Saying the N-Word: “He’s Black, Like, That’s It”

Over the years there have been intermittent discussions about whether Fat Joe, who is a Puerto Rican man and other Hispanic rappers should be allowed to say the N-word. During a new episode of Revolt TV's State of the Culture, Joe's friend Remy Ma defends the rapper's perceived right to say it.

On Monday's (Sept. 30) episode of the show, Joe Budden and his co-hosts discussed Fat Joe's recent claim that many Latinos identify themselves with Black culture more than some Black people. From there, the conversation shifted to the topic of who can and can't say the N-word. As Budden began to make a point about whether Fat Joe is allowed to say the word, Remy came to Joey Crack's defense.

"I've seen pictures," says Remy, who also claims that Fat Joe didn't have a choice but to embrace Black culture because he grew up in South Bronx. "I know his whole family. This didn't happen when he decided to become a rapper or [an] artist. 'Yeah, I'm gonna use the word nigga because this sounds cool.'... He's Black. Like, that's it."

Remy Ma and Fat Joe's relationship goes way back, as the two have been in the group Terror Squad for more than 15 years. In 2004, they dropped off "Lean Back," a song that quickly became one of the biggest of that year. Twelve years later, in 2016, nearly two years after Remy was released from prison after serving six years behind bars for an assault charge, and Remy linked with Fat Joe for their summer 2016 single "All the Way Up." That one earned them a Grammy nomination and it led promotion for their 2017 album Plata O Plomo. 

With their background in mind, there's no surprise that Remy was down to defend what she feels is Joey Crack's right. Fat Joe originally made his claims about Latinos being Black during a Sept. 19 interview on Hot 97's Ebro in the Morning.

"Let's speak about Latinos not being Black," Joe said. "Latinos are Black. In Cuba, at one time, there was 8 million Cubans. 5 million, unfortunately, were slaves. 3 million were actual Cubans, and they integrated and had babies. Same thing with Puerto Rico when you go to Loíza. And when you talk about Santeria, that came from the motherland Africa. Sometimes, Latinos may even identify themselves with African and Black culture more than Black people. This ain't no crazy thing. Fat Joe ain't on crack. He know what he talking about."

Check out the full conversation below. The clip of them talking about Fat Joe starts at 4:00.

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