Fat Joe wants to make a difference in the urban and Latino communities, but he isn’t against running what some are calling a pyramid scheme because he sees it as helping the community. Named the head of Urban & Latino Development of Market America in 2014, Joe has been criticized for unethical practices as president. In a new interview, the Terror Squad rapper talks about his company and insists that the business others call a pyramid scheme is changing lives.
“I know you may hear the word ‘pyramid.’ There are two lines of distribution and the truth is, I have people on my team working under me who make more money than me,” Joe said to VIBE. “So the stories you hear are untrue. People are like ‘why is this guy getting involved with this?’ I see through all the rhetoric and propaganda. I see how many people are helped and see how many people’s lives are changed. This isn’t made for a rapper though. This is made for a normal person.”
A photo posted by marketamerica (@marketamerica) on Feb 4, 2016 at 9:38am PST
Joe, real name Joseph Cartagena, has known the founders of Market America JR & Loren Ridinger for a total of 15 years, but was originally just a celebrity contact at conferences. Once he discovered the mechanics behind Market America, he wanted to get more involved and increase the Latino and African-American community involvement. In addition to adding his own business to Market America, Joe is also gearing up to release two albums in 2016
While Joe might be savvy with Market America, he missed a big business opportunity by passing on signing Eminem not one, but six times. While on tour Joe told The South China Morning Post, “Man I got so many regrets. The biggest is that Eminem gave me so many demos - six different times he approached me and I didn’t sign him. Shame on me.”
