‘Jamaica started Afrobeats,’ Fat Joe stirs controversy

American rapper Joseph Antonio Cartagena, popularly known as Fat Joe, as made strong, controversial claims about the origin of afrobeats.

The rapper, while speaking in a recent episode of the Joe And Jada podcast, explained that although he believes everything came from Africa, afrobeats came from Jamaica.

He further spoke about Panamanian rapper El General’s influence in music, stating that he pioneered reggaeton which in turn influenced other genres of music globally.

“Jamaica started Afrobeats. Even though everything comes from Africa,” Fat Joe claimed.

Fat Joe also spoke regarding BNXN’s name change, noting that they bullied him into changing his stage name because his former stage name, Buju, was disrespectful to Jamaican dancehall legend, Biju Banton.

“There is a fake guy in Africa using the Buju name, we dissed him on tv, shut him down, he changed his name. I told him there is only one Buju Banton,” he added.