Joseph Antonio Cartagena, better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper. He began recording as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.) in 1991, and pursued a solo career with the release of his debut studio album, Represent (1993) the following year. Cartagena formed the hip hop group Terror Squad and its namesake record label in the late 1990s, through which he has signed fellow New York artists including Big Pun, Remy Ma, Tony Sunshine, Cuban Link, Triple Seis, as well as then-unknown producers DJ Khaled and Cool & Dre.