Inside Fat Joe’s “Family Ties” Private Listening Party [RECAP]
Wow! As we approach the end of a decade I cannot help but reflect back on my media journey. 10 years ago I was a recent college grad and this life I’m living was nothing more than a desire of my heart.
Last night I was in the Roc Nation offices– the company Jay-Z owns, sharing Dusse and Hypnotic to unreleased music with industry power players from Terror Squad, YouTube, Apple, Hot 97, Music Choice and more. I mean, I walked in with Remy Ma and shared the elevator with her and Juju C. from Love and Hip-Hop New York.
This night was certainly one to remember as everyone came together to celebrate Bronx rapper Fat Joe’s latest release “Family Ties” co-starring Bay Area producer Dre of Cool and Dre.
The 11-track studio album shows the duos range in sound with hard-hitting street anthems like “YES” featuring Cardi B and Anuel A and “Big Splash” featuring Remy Ma. The Internet went crazy for this one when I posted this snippet ahead of the album release on Instagram.
Fat Joe also kept it mellow for the ladies with tracks like “Hands on You” featuring Jeremih and Bryson Tiller and “Drive” featuring Ty Dolla $ign, which was a unanimous win. After the first play, the entire room demanded the DJ play it back.
While I captured some dope moments of Fat Joe reminded us that he is 100 percent an independent artist when it’s time to show love, or even him celebrating Remy Ma beating her latest assault charge against Love and Hip-Hop co-star Brittany Taylor.
But I missed the most newsworthy part of the album, the Eminem feature on “Lord Above,” an inspirational track also featuring Mary J. Blige.
On the track Eminem threw major shade at Nick Cannon and his ex-wife Mariah Carey saying:
I know me and Mariah didn’t end on a high note
Eminem, “Lord Above”
But that other dude’s whipped, that pussy got him neutered
Tried to tell him this chick’s a nutjob ‘fore he got his jewels clipped
Almost got my caboose kicked
Fool, quit, you not gon’ do shit
I let her chop my balls off too ‘fore I lost to you, Nick
This jab promoted Nick Cannon to shoot off not one, but two diss tracks, “Invitation ” and “Pray for Him” in response. While I think it was a boss move, many worry that Nick Cannon has just dug his own grave.
Regardless, I’m confident streams of “Family Ties” is up as people want to understand how things escalated so quickly.
At the end of the evening, Fat Joe played a music video that was really more like a mini-movie for his next single “Deep.” The video shows of Joe’s acting skills in both drama and comedy.
All in all, I had a great time at the event and met a lot of cool new industry contacts.
My top “Family Ties” picks:
1. "YES" ft. Dre, Cardi B, Anuel AA 2. 'Big Spalsh" ft. Dre and Remy Ma 3. "Drive" ft. Dre, Ty Dolla $ign,AND jEREMIH 5. "Deep" ft. Dre
Have you listened to “Family Ties” by Fat Joe and Dre? If so, which tracks are you keeping on repeat? What do you think of the Nick Cannon vs. Eminem beef?
