Fat Joe says he’s torn because, in his eyes, some of the “hottest rappers” right now are “rats”—and he pointed to Gunna’s new project as an example.
On the latest episode of his podcast Joe and Jada, co-hosted with Jadakiss, Joe called out hip-hop fans for brushing past the fact that major stars have been accused of snitching.
“My thing is now, you got some guys that are the hottest guys in the game. Rats,” Joe said. “Like I get a phone call from somebody. He says, ‘Yo man, you got to check this album out.’ … Listen, ever since I assumed you a rat, your people ain’t fucking with you no more. I’m off you no matter what you do.”
Though he admitted he was talking about Gunna’s The Last Wun, and even praised the album as fire, Joe said he couldn’t fully support it. His conflict comes from Gunna’s Alford plea in the YSL RICO case, which allowed him to walk free early but left many believing he cooperated against Young Thug.
For Joe, the issue is personal. He recalled a painful chapter from his past when a close friend flipped and became an informant after a federal case. Joe said drug dealers pressed him in a restaurant over the betrayal, forcing him to defend himself. That moment shaped how he sees loyalty—and why he refuses to endorse anyone who “violates the code.”
“I never went to see this guy one time in my life after he ratted because he violated the code,” Joe shared, adding that he later heard the man struggled through winters in New York without even a jacket. “I’ve been through this in my life. And so to see it so acceptable, how everybody’s acting like, ‘Yo, it’s OK, it’s no problem, it’s good music … let’s separate the art form from what it is.’”
Gunna continues to be one of the most talked-about names in hip-hop. His courtroom admission that YSL functioned as both a label and a gang split the culture, with fans and fellow rappers divided—even as his legal team stressed that his plea wasn’t the same as cooperating with prosecutors.
Several big names, including Lil Baby, Lil Durk, and Freddie Gibbs, have appeared to keep their distance from the Drip Season rapper.
Still, Gunna’s career hasn’t missed a beat. His latest project opened at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, moving 80,000 equivalent album units in its first week. The release also secured his seventh entry in the top 10, proving that, controversy or not, his momentum is far from slowing down.
