Fat Joe is mourning the loss of his father, Ernesto Cartagena, who has sadly passed away at the age of 79.
The Bronx rapper revealed the news in a post to Instagram on Wednesday (February 12), where he memorialized his dad with a carousel of memories.
“Sad to announce the passing of my Father ‘ERNESTO AKA CUBA,'” he shared. “papi te quero para siempre. This has been tough, I’m not looking for sympathy, just Honoring my Dad. He’s a Legend in my eyes. To my Mom, Wife, Brothers and Sisters i love you and we’ll always be united. 9/15/1935 – 2/12/2025.”
This is already a tender time of year for Joe, as just days ago marked the 25th anniversary of Big Pun‘s passing.
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HipHopDX sends our condolences to the Cartagena family.
One of the pictures in Fat Joe’s carousel was of his father with one of Joe’s son’s, Little Joey.
Little Joey has down syndrome and autism, and Joe recently shared vulnerable details about raising him by himself after, per his comments, his child’s mother “abandoned him.”
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“When he was born, first of all, me and his mother wasn’t together,” Joe said on Club Shay Shay in October. “We wasn’t together, broken up. I knew I didn’t want to be with this woman. It was before rap. I’m at my mother’s house, it’s one of those rainy days.”
He continued: “She walk in the building. I say, ‘Fuck it, let’s rekindle our old flame.’ She gets pregnant. With no disrespect because I love my son Joey, but I let her know, ‘I do not want to be with you, so maybe we should have this abortion because I don’t…”
He added that she wanted to have the baby and that since it was her choice, she “pretty much forced” him to have the baby at the age of 19.
“When he’s born the doctor tells us, ‘Hey, I have bad news to tell you,’” the rapper continued. “He shows us his hands, ‘he has down syndrome, he’s gonna be a big challenge.’ I was there with my mother, my father and his mother. His mother was like, ‘Yo, I can’t do this. I’ma have to give him up for adoption.
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“My mother was like, ‘You crazy, bitch? You not giving up my fuckin’…’ And so we raised him. And he’s had his challenges. You see, I don’t know if all kids who are autistic or on the spectrum, this guy’s happy. I swear to God. He’s always happy. He’s never sad. If you’re stuck in a place, he’s stuck in happiness.”
