Screen shot taken from NPR: Noam Galai

Fat Joe has said on multiple occasions that he recorded several unreleased songs with The Notorious B.I.G. before the Brooklyn rapper’s death in 1997. According to Joe, the two worked on roughly five tracks, some of which included verses aimed at Tupac Shakur. He has also suggested that well-known figures in the industry, including Sean “Diddy” Combs, could confirm the existence of the recordings.

The Bronx rapper has revisited this claim in interviews and online appearances over the years, most recently in 2023, when he again insisted that the material was real, though never released.

Not everyone is convinced. Lance “Un” Rivera, a former music executive who worked closely with The Notorious B.I.G., has publicly questioned Joe’s account. Speaking in an interview on The Art of Dialogue, Rivera argued that he would likely have known if such a project had been in progress and challenged Joe to provide evidence.

The dispute highlights the lingering fascination with unreleased work from B.I.G., whose career was cut short at age 24. While Fat Joe continues to maintain that the songs exist, no recordings have surfaced to date, and Rivera’s remarks have added fuel to doubts about the claim.

Sources: Vibe, yahoo, hiphopdx