Global Borrowers, Foundational Creators: Hip-Hop Belongs to Foundational Black Americans, Fat Joe
It’s time to have a real conversation. Hip-hop didn’t just spring out of thin air, and it sure didn’t emerge as some global kumbaya project where everyone held hands and equally contributed. Hip-hop is a cultural expression born directly from the experience of Foundational Black Americans (FBAs). Period.
So when Fat Joe flaps his gums, casually suggesting that hip-hop was some kind of cultural potluck with no clear origin, it’s not just wrong—it’s a disrespectful erasure of Black Americans’ legacy. Here’s why Fat Joe, and anyone parroting his nonsense, needs to sit down, open a book, and recognize who built the house he’s living in.
The Birthplace of Hip-Hop: FBA Struggles, Creativity, and Culture
The Bronx in the 1970s was a tough place—economic despair, systemic neglect, and racial discrimination were daily realities. For Foundational Black Americans, whose ancestors endured centuries of slavery, segregation, and systemic racism, hip-hop was born out of resilience and innovation. It was more than music; it was a way to turn pain into art, to reclaim agency in a world that continually tried to silence them.
Graffiti, breakdancing, DJing, and MCing—the four pillars of hip-hop—were deeply rooted in FBA culture and history:
Graffiti: A visual rebellion, a way to carve out a presence in a city that erased Black voices.
Breakdancing: An art form born from Black American jazz dance traditions and martial arts influences, adapted and redefined by FBA youth.
DJing: Techniques like scratching and mixing evolved from traditions of Black American music—jazz, blues, funk, and soul.
MCing: The verbal tradition of storytelling, roasting (the dozens), and call-and-response, all rooted in FBA oral traditions.
While non-FBA individuals like DJ Kool Herc contributed to technical innovations, the cultural fabric and ethos of hip-hop are undeniably FBA. The very foundation Herc built upon—funk records, soul music, Black American slang, and cultural storytelling—was created by FBAs long before a single turntable was scratched.
Why This Matters: Cultural Borrowing Isn’t Creation
Let’s get something straight: being part of something is not the same as starting it. Latinos and other groups contributed to hip-hop’s growth, no doubt. But creating something from scratch? That was FBA ingenuity.
Fat Joe’s comments are part of a larger problem: the global habit of cherry-picking contributions while erasing the origins. It’s the same dynamic we’ve seen with jazz, rock ’n’ roll, and blues—genres Black Americans pioneered, only to see their contributions downplayed or outright stolen. Hip-hop is no different, and we can’t allow that pattern to repeat.
To borrow from a house analogy: Foundational Black Americans laid the bricks, raised the walls, and built the damn roof. Everyone else just moved in.
Fat Joe, Please Take a Seat
Fat Joe’s claim that hip-hop was some global melting pot ignores reality. Hip-hop came from the Bronx, yes—but it came from Black Americans living in the Bronx. It came from their pain, joy, and ingenuity. To suggest otherwise isn’t just ignorant; it’s insulting.
Here’s the thing, Joe: No one’s denying your place in hip-hop as a Puerto Rican artist who contributed to its growth. But contributing is not creating. Acknowledge your role as a participant, not a pioneer. It’s not that hard.
When you try to rewrite history, you’re doing the same thing colonizers did to indigenous cultures—stealing credit while stomping on the people who made it possible. Do better.
FBA Legacy: The Backbone of Global Hip-Hop
Today, hip-hop is a billion-dollar global industry. But let’s not forget who planted the seeds. Every rapper spitting bars in Tokyo, London, or Johannesburg owes their craft to FBA creativity. The slang, the style, the storytelling—it all traces back to Black American communities who turned their struggles into an art form that resonated worldwide.
Let’s give credit where it’s due. Non-FBA communities can and should celebrate their contributions to hip-hop’s evolution. But hip-hop’s origins belong solely to Foundational Black Americans. That’s not up for debate. That’s history.
The Bottom Line: Hip-Hop Is Black American History
Fat Joe, take note: Being loud doesn’t make you right. Hip-hop is not a buffet where everyone gets to claim equal credit. It’s a cultural masterpiece crafted by Foundational Black Americans—a gift to the world, born out of pain, resilience, and relentless creativity.
So let’s set the record straight: Hip-hop isn’t “global” in its origins. It’s FBA. Respect it, acknowledge it, and stop trying to rewrite it.