Fat Joe Opens Up: “I Never Thought in My Life I Would Squash the Beef With 50 Cent”

50 Cent has many foes, but Fat Joe may have been one of his most adamant. Their feud was so intense that Joe didn’t think it would ever stop.

Joe made it clear during a recent interview on Talib Kweli’s People’s Party podcast that he was prepared to take his beef with 50 to the grave, but he’s glad he didn’t.

Joe said, “I never thought in my life I would squash the beef with 50 Cent,” before going on to describe how the death of their mutual friend Chris Lighty in 2012 sparked their reconciliation.

“I’m the real deal. If we would have bumped heads somewhere, it would have went down physically 100 percent. So when Chris Lighty died, I went to the funeral by myself,” he told Kweli. “I show up, and 50 Cent is there. He’s on the other side; I don’t see him.”

Fat Joe received news from BET shortly after the funeral that Chris Lighty, who was just 44 years old at the time, would be honored at the BET Awards. He was told there would be 50 people, so he went to the rehearsal ready for anything.

“When I show up to the BET Awards, we on point. We super focused. That’s the only way I can explain it legally,” he explained. “They say rehearsal. I perform ‘Lean Back,’ and then 50 Cent comes out. He ends up right by where I’m at. And when the music stops, he puts his hands out and says ‘Peace for Chris Lighty.’ Chris Lighty wanted peace.”

Joe admits that he didn’t understand why 50 was the bigger guy at first. He’s also learned that their relationship will serve as an example to younger rappers, demonstrating that verbal sparring should never turn into violence.

“I think we have an obligation, a responsibility to show these young brothers that beefing over words can be squashed,” he continued. “You can become friends. It doesn’t have to result in us killing each other. The rap beef doesn’t have to turn violent in the streets. I hope everybody sees that and says, ‘The shit they were saying to each other, and now they’re friends? It can happen…I’ve been beefing with these people so long. Why don’t I squash beef with all my enemies and see what doors it opens?”