Loyalty Fat Joe . It was released on November 12, 2002, via Terror Squad /Atlantic Records . Recording sessions took place at Sony Music Studios and TMF Studios in New York , PatchWerk Recording Studios in Atlanta and The Hit Factory Criteria in Miami . Production was handled by Cool & Dre , Alchemist , Armageddon, Buckwild , Chink Santana , Irv Gotti , Larry "Precision" Gates, Ron Browz , Teflon and Ty Fyffe . It features guest appearances from fellow Terror Squad members Tony Sunshine , Remy Ma , Armageddon and Prospect, as well as Birdman , Ginuwine , Lamagic, Ronda Blackwell and Scarface .
The album debuted at number 31 on the US Billboard 200Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts in the United States. It was supported with two singles: "Crush Tonight " and "All I Need". Its lead single, "Crush Tonight", peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100UK singles chart . The second single from the album, "All I Need", made it to number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song "Take a Look At My Life" can be heard in the 2004 video game Def Jam: Fight for NY
Mr. S of RapReviews gave praise to the production quality throughout the track listing, singling out Cool & Dre for their contributions that showcase their talents, and Joe for delivering on his lyrical content with hard-edged, introspective street bangers and romantic rap ballads despite getting a "little too commercial for his own good" in the middle portion of the album, concluding that "when all things are considered, Fat Joe did a nice job of balancing this album for different crowds and fanbases, if not a great job of doing so like he did on Don Cartagena J.O.S.E. [ 4] HipHopDX Loyalty isn't anything more than average in the end. The hodge-podge of grimy, ghetto inspired tracks and commercially acceptable songs leave this album in staccato. Overall, as a product it's easy to recommend to the radio hungry hip hop fan, it's just that Fat Joe is not going to be remembered for the time he put into this release".[ 2]
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Take a Look at My Life" Buckwild 4:00 2. "Bust at You" (featuring Baby , Scarface and Tony Sunshine ) Alchemist 4:37 3. "Prove Something" Cartagena Marcello Valenzano Andre Lyon Thomas David Richardson Doug Edwards Cool & Dre 3:55 4. "TS Piece" (featuring Remy Ma and Tony Sunshine) Cool & Dre 3:50 5. "It's Nothing" (featuring Tony Sunshine) Ty Fyffe 4:06 6. "Turn Me On" (featuring Ronda Blackwell) 3:41 7. "Born in the Ghetto" (featuring Lamajic) Cool & Dre 3:50 8. "Crush Tonight " (featuring Ginuwine ) Precision 5:17 9. "Gangsta" Armageddon 3:54 10. "All I Need" (featuring Tony Sunshine and Armageddon) Cartagena Eaddy Valenzano Lyon James Harris III Terry Lewis Winfred Lovett Cool & Dre 4:39 11. "Life Goes On" Cool & Dre 4:53 12. "Loyalty" (featuring Armageddon, Prospect and Remy Ma) Cartagena Eaddy Richard Perez Smith Valenzano Lyon Michael Denne Ken Gold Cool & Dre 4:57 13. "We Run This Shit" Ron Browz 3:58 14. "Shit Is Real Pt. III" Teflon 4:21 Total length: 59:53
Joseph "Fat Joe " Cartagena — vocals, executive producer
Bryan "Baby/Birdman " Williams — vocals (track 2)
Brad "Scarface " Jordan — vocals (track 2)
Antonio "Tony Sunshine " Cruz — vocals (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 10) , additional vocals (track 8)
Reminisce "Remy Martin " Smith — vocals (tracks: 4, 12)
Ronda Blackwell — vocals (track 6)
Floyd "Lamagic" Massey — vocals (track 7)
Elgin "Ginuwine " Lumpkin — vocals (track 8)
John "Armageddon" Eaddy — vocals (tracks: 10, 12) , producer (track 9) , executive producer
Richard "Prospect" Perez — vocals (track 12)
Charlie Rock — additional vocals (track 13)
David Cabrera — guitar (track 4)
Chris Feinstein — bass (tracks: 5, 14) Tom DeKorte — Wurlitzer electric piano (track 14) , recording assistant (tracks: 2–5, 7–14)
Anthony "Buckwild " Best — producer (track 1)
Alan "The Alchemist " Maman — producer (track 2)
Marcello "Cool" Valenzano — producer (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 10–12)
Andre "Dre" Lyon — producer (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 10–12)
Tyrone "Ty " Fyffe — producer (track 5)
Irving "Irv Gotti " Lorenzo — producer (track 6)
Andre "Chink Santana " Parker — producer (track 6)
Larry "Precision" Gates — producer (track 8)
Rondell "Ron Browz " Turner — producer (track 13)
Sheldon "Teflon" Harris — producer (track 14)
Christian "Soundboy" Delatour — recording
Fabian Marasciullo — recording (track 6)
Josh Butler — additional recording (track 2)
Geoff Rice — recording assistant (tracks: 1, 2, 4, 6) , mixing assistant (tracks: 3, 7)
Toshikazu Yoshioka — recording assistant (tracks: 2–5, 7–14)
Kent Hertz — recording assistant (track 6)
Ken "Duro" Ifill — mixing (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 13) Jason Goldstein — mixing (tracks: 3, 4, 7–12, 14)
Nick Howard — mixing assistant (tracks: 1, 2, 5, 6, 13)
Pablo Arraya — mixing assistant (tracks: 3, 4, 8–12, 14)
Chris Gehringer — masteringChris Athens — additional masteringRob "Reef" Tewlow — co-executive producer, A&R
Ola Kudu — art direction, design
Christina Dittmar — art direction
Kon Trubkovich — additional design
Vincent Soyez — photography
Anne DeClemente — A&R
Craig Rosen — A&R
Tara Balzano — A&R
^ Bush, John. "Loyalty - Fat Joe | Album | AllMusic" . AllMusic Archived from the original on December 10, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2024 . ^ a b Oduro, Mike (December 5, 2002). "Fat Joe - Loyalty" . HipHopDX Archived from the original on June 25, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2024 . ^ Johannesberg, Stefan. "Entkleidet bis auf die nackte Musik wirkt der fette Joe ziemlich mager" . laut.de . Retrieved April 25, 2024 . ^ a b "Fat Joe :: Loyalty :: Terror Squad/Atlantic Records" . www.rapreviews.com . November 15, 2002. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2024 .^ Brackett, Nathan ; Hoard, Christian David (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Simon & Schuster . p. 296. ISBN 978-0-7432-0169-8 Google Books .^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40" . Official Charts Company . Retrieved April 25, 2024.^ "The Billboard 200" . Billboard Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 30, 2002. p. 64. ISSN 0006-2510 . Retrieved April 25, 2024 .^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" . Billboard Nielsen Business Media, Inc. November 30, 2002. p. 23. ISSN 0006-2510 . Retrieved April 25, 2024 .
