Fat Joe - Elephant in the Room Rating : 3 out of 5

Here's a riddle... what do you call a sandwich minus the meat inside? Well it's the new Fat Joe album. The beats are there and the classic Flow Joe isn't. This may be the biggest case of a ghostwriter or the biggest Lil Wayne swagger jacking in history. You can tell Fat Joe has been off his game. Did he go south as many had said and turn his back on the east? Is this why when he  dropped "The Elephant In The Room" alot of New Yoricans weren't willing to support it? This is maybe why ...
       
The album kicks off with "The Fugitive".Joe desperately tries to kick that gee shit.You can hear the devestation in Joe's flow. He starts out with a beat and a beginning flow something reminiscent of Don Cartegena...then out of no where he turns into Lil Wayne. Spitting parables that at times make no sense and are obnoxious.When Joe says "Who's gonna tell me I cant say Nigga (beat drop) ....nigga nigga nigga nigga (times one hundred) " that song turned into hot trash in an instant.More mediocre songs were "The Crack House" f Lil Wayne and "Drop". "Cocababy" was a case of spectacular production,a cliche chorus, and a hosed down flow.All most every song sounds like a Lil Wayne impression.And what makes it worse is the Lil Wayne biting isn't even the lyrical Wayne... its the drunk singing word slurring Wayne.

There are some bangers that still capture that real essence of hiphop that Joe used to rep.....enter...(drum roll) ...."That White" produced by Premo.This joint is nuckin futs ..hands down it will make you feel like its 99 again with Joe,Pun and Cuban.The production is timeless and Joe spit "That White" like no one else could.Krs One stopped through and proved to be the Rocky Balboa of this rap shit. Two huge ego's repped the BX to the fullest.The back and forth was like a tag team match made in heaven.The song quickly turned into a pissing contest and who won? well let me quote this ..

(fat joe)- Kris you know I'm the greatest of all time /
(krs)-Joe I'm the best you must be out ya fuckin mind!)

 .....wow..let me cool off the speakers.Another anthem was "300 Brolic" ...only problem was the original version that was released was better. But most likely do to a sample clearance it had to be altered in the final version.The song was still hot ..but not as scorching as the original.Also, the lead and hit single "I Won't Tell" with J Holiday is good song but it wasn't enough to push the album over 46 k in the first week.
       
Its hard to take Fat Joe back as a true NYC pioneer when the new Terror Squad features new rappers from Miami,when you claim to be the hardest rapper but in an interview with the Village Voice you admit you smoked weed once and rap about shit you don't really do, and most of all when you go against the grain with all former T.S. members and everyone from Papoose to G unit.Its not that Joe doesn't have the same raw spit that he used to ..its just that he may be too easily influenced by his peers.Just because you do 908539900593 songs with Lil Wayne and Rick Ross doesn't mean you have to be there reflection.All in all the album was take it or leave it.The joints that were bad were straight trash but the ones that were good were real good.It balances out in the long run.It looks like this time around the elephant in the room is the elephant who was doomed.