There are mistakes and then there are life-altering mistakes that can cost you money, power and fame. The latter happened to Fat Joe.
Of course the South China Morning Post got the scoop, because where else would be your source for hip hop news? They asked Fat Joe, who was in Hong Kong at the time of the interview, what his biggest regret in the music industry was, and he said the following bombshell:
“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.”
That’s a rather monumental oopsie daisy. I’m sure that Terror Squad didn’t need the best-selling hip-hop artist of all-time, the best-selling artist of the 2000s with 32.2 million albums sold in the decade, 42 platinum certifications and a total of 50.1 million albums sold in the United States as a solo artist and more than 155 million sold worldwide. Nah, what record exec would want those type of accolades on their roster.
Instead, Eminem signed with Aftermath Entertainment in 1998, which has been a fairly successful move for both Marshall Mathers and Dr. Dre.
Despite the fact that Fat Joe overlooked Slim Shady, the two have worked together on the “Lean Back” remix which also featured Lil Jon, Remy Ma and Ma$e.
What could have been…
[MTV]