Aptly named Represent is a pretty solid representation of not only where hip hop was in 1993 as well as Fat Joe's prowess around a microphone. Released a year before the industry crusher, Illmatic, Represent didn't have the misfortune of trying to live up to that though the competition ESPECIALLY in New York, was fierce at the time and Nas was already abuzz. 

Lead single, Flow Joe, hit the top of Billboard charts in '93.  I first saw the video probably over a decade later on Rap City or one of MTV2's nostalgic mix shows. I was captivated, as I only knew Joe, post Pun, as the Terror Squad chief. He was still (very) fat, but instead of bright polos, diamond chains and licked sneakers, it was a Carhart wearing young and hungry (pun intended.... pun not intended... this will go on forever) Puerto Rican kid blowing my mind. I can only imagine if I was 14 in the early 90's, but catching it the second time around wasn't the worst thing in the world.  I made sure I had this album not too soon after I saw aforementioned video and I became a forever Fat Joe fan.

So, Flow Joe was dope, but the real gem is the second single, Watch the Sound, produced featuring Grand Puba and Diamond D. Joe flexes with lines like "Boom Bip Bam / Here I am / even fans in Japan be tellin me I'm the man." Which, I'm sure he had never been overseas at that point, but the point is made. It's a Jay Z / Biggie, Brooklyn's finest type track. A big beat and boisterous lyrics.  My assumption (as I have no point of reference) is that this album came and went as a lot of classic-like records did in the at that time. But the not so talked about follow up (at least in my circles) 1995's Jealous Ones Envy, set a mood for what would come, Don Cartagena. But I'll touch on that in another post. 

The second half of the record isn' nearly as exciting as the 1st half. It succumbs to many of the tropes that would become commonplace of records of the era. Though there are other standout cuts. The eloquently named "Nigger from the Bronx" which is backwards love letter to the BX with a Cypress Hill sample for the hook (which I can only assume is a reference to their shared ethnicity) and featuring never-heard-from-again rappers Gismo, Keith Keith (not to be mistaken for Kool Keith) and King Sun. Too was the "You Must Be Out Your Fuckin Mind" featuring the god, Kool G Rap and Apache. I'm not particularly a fan of the beat, but its violent and there are a lot of F-words, of both varieties.

Originally, I'm pretty sure I found a way to get Represent through 'other' channels, but I'll never forget I was given a physical copy of the record in middle school by a good friend for my birthday.

Grab it on Discogs or use your fancy Spotify account.