Fat Joe has always been known for speaking his mind, but in a recent story on his podcast, the Bronx legend peeled back the curtain on just how grimy the music business can get. According to Joe, if it weren’t for Ludacris, Atlantic Records would have scammed him out of millions during the early 2000s ringtone era.
Back then, ringtones had just been invented and were becoming a huge revenue stream—but the catch was that most artists’ contracts didn’t mention them, because ringtones didn’t exist when those deals were signed. That loophole left artists in a position to negotiate big checks for their ringtone rights. Ludacris, being ahead of the curve, cashed in early and walked away with a reported $2 million.
Joe says he learned about the deal directly from Luda while at his lawyer’s office. “He broke it down to me—he just got $2 million off ringtones. They were popping champagne,” Joe recalled.
But shortly after, Fat Joe claims Atlantic Records tried to pull a fast one. While visiting the label, an assistant brought him papers to sign, saying it was about ringtones and that the label owned the rights. Joe immediately refused, telling them to run everything through his lawyer. That’s when, according to Joe, the label president himself came down to pressure him into signing.
“I said, ‘My man, suck my d***,’” Joe admitted. “The whole office looked at me like, ‘What?’ But I wasn’t going for it. I just saw Ludacris get millions—why would I sign my rights away for nothing?”
The situation escalated to the point where Lyor Cohen, then-chairman of Warner Bros. Records, got involved. Joe says Cohen told him that all the major labels had agreed to retroactively claim ringtone rights from artists. But Joe stood firm, pointing out that Ludacris had just been paid handsomely for his.
In the end, Fat Joe says Atlantic was forced to cut him a multi-million-dollar check—but only after making him sign an NDA so he wouldn’t warn other artists. “At the end of the day, I stuck them up for M’s,” Joe said. “But they made me sign a contract saying don’t tell nobody we gave you the money.”
Fat Joe went on to say, “Your success speaks for you. At the end of the day, this game is filthy. If you don’t stand up for yourself, they’ll take everything.”
Source: YouTube
