Fat Joe has openly praised Chris Brown, comparing him to Michael Jackson during an Instagram Live session over the weekend. The Bronx rapper expressed that Brown’s career would be even more celebrated if not for his past domestic violence case involving Rihanna. “If Chris Brown never got into the controversy with Rihanna, we would be calling him Michael Jackson right now,” Joe stated. “Not like Michael Jackson — Michael Jackson. He is the most talented singer, artist, performer, hit maker of our time. There’s nobody even close to Chris Brown, and it’s time we move past it.”
Joe highlighted the significant time that has passed since the incident, pointing out that Brown has not been involved in any similar controversies for over two decades. “It’s been 20-something years that I know of — there’s no more incidents. We gon’ let this lifetime go by without saying the truth?” he questioned. He suggested that fear of backlash prevents people from acknowledging Brown’s talent. “What happens is, when the truth is an unpopular decision, everybody gets scared to say it. They get canceled — especially famous people. But you know, the streets — they know what it is. Streets always know, they tell you the truth.”
Fat Joe drew a parallel with R. Kelly, who, despite being sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sexual abuse, still has his music played. “The streets still bumping R. Kelly,” he remarked. “He’s in jail, he did terrible things.”
Emphasizing Brown’s extensive body of work and numerous hits, Joe insisted that Brown deserves more respect. “So what I’m tryna say is that it’s a shame that we lying and we not giving it up to the king of R&B. We be thinking he could battle Michael Jackson, that’s all I’m tryna say. I’m not lying. If you really look at his body of work and you look at all his hits, you see what he does.”
Although he does not condone Brown’s past actions towards Rihanna, Joe noted that Brown was young at the time. Previously, in April, Joe had also praised Brown, dubbing him the modern-day 2Pac. “Of course, the 2Pac of 2024 has to be Chris Brown,” he said. “Chris Brown is considered an alien. If you playing basketball, he’ll bust your ass. If you sing against him, he sing better, he dance better. If he gotta rap, he raps.”