This past May Brooklyn rhyme slinger Joell Ortiz was struck by a wave of backlash when he released the song "Big Pun Back," which paid homage to the late rapper over Meek Mill's instrumental for the similarly evocative single "Tupac Back." But the Puerto Rican rapper has found an ally in Fat Joe, who has defended the song and says he's been the target of similar attacks from former Pun associates.
"See, what happened is Big Pun was surrounded by an enormous amount of idiots,” Joe said in an interview with XXLmag.com. "Nincompoops. You got a younger Spanish dude who’s hot in the streets and he wants to honor Big Pun and you throw slander at him and you disrespect him for f***in’ only honoring Pun? How do expect anybody else to honor Big Pun?! Or talk about him in a good way?!”
Joey Crack said he was personally a big fan of Ortiz's tribute.
“I thought it was incredible. I thought it was great. I never seen a guy in my f---in’ life get backlash for f---in’ biggin’ up somebody,” he said.
Joe, who has also been criticized for riding on the memory of Pun said he was moved to speak out because he empathized with Ortiz.
“This is the s---, I hope people can open their eyes and see the s--- that Fat Joe has been dealing with for the last 12 years,” he said. "I think I got more upset than Joell Ortiz did, but I know the type of people he’s dealing with.”

(Photo: Graham Denholm/Getty Images)