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FAT JOE & REMY MA GO “ALL THE WAY UP”
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Prison, a bitter feud, and a changing industry haven’t stopped the Terror Squad rappers from collaborating on a new album. B Y N O L A N F E E N E Y
LITTLE BIG TOWN
name: Reminisce Mackie) shot an acquaintance she suspected of stealing money from her purse. (In court, Remy’s attorney said the nonfatal shooting was an accident.) She and Joe also had a falling-out, after her debut album, 2006’s There’s Something About Remy: Based on a True Story, disappointed commercially. Remy, 36, eventually reconciled with Joe, 46, while she was in prison, and the two were reignited creatively. After Remy released a mixtape in 2014, she and Joe scored a surprise hit with 2016’s brassy “All the Way Up,” which was nominated for two Grammys this year. Their new album, Plata o Plomo, out now, marks Remy’s first official studio release in more than a decade. “I don’t want anyone to think I take that for granted,” she says. “All the Way Up” is also something of a small miracle
The Breaker After last year’s Pharrell Williams-helmed detour, Wanderlust, the country quartet return to Nashville on this sublime full-length, which features barn burners like “Rollin’ ” and one weeper of a ballad: the Taylor Swiftpenned single “Better Man.”
given its throwback ’90s feel—especially for a genre that’s favoring youth, viral potential, and the trap sounds coming out of Atlanta. “YouTube sensations have these huge records out of the clear blue sky, and we pull off two Grammy nominations independently,” Remy says. “We didn’t do that when we were signed to majors!” Now the two are setting their sights beyond music. In addition to a new solo album, Remy is working on a book and stars on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop. Joe, who is developing two TV shows, says he could see Remy “being a Will Smith” by getting into acting and producing. “I want something I can pass on to my kids,” Remy says. “This is my empire that I started.” Even when you’re “All the Way Up,” she says, “there’s always another level of up.” Adds Joe, “We lookin’ for space suits right now.”
DIRTY PROJECTORS
Dirty Projectors Warped vocals, Afroinspired rhythms, and deceptively catchy melodies: Must be the latest from these beloved indie rockers. The deeply personal LP includes collabs with Solange Knowles and Dawn Richard.
THUNDERCAT
Drunk Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa, Pharrell Williams, and (no joke) yacht rockers Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins assist the bass maestro on his fourth album, which perfects his psychedelic fusion of jazz, soul, and electronica.
ROCKABYE BABY!
Lullaby Renditions of Beyoncé Queen Bey will soon have two new bey-bies, making the latest installment of the long-running lullaby series all the more timely. The set features plucky xylophone renditions of material from Destiny’s Child to Lemonade.
Fat Joe and Remy Ma
Littl e Bi g TTown
FAT JOE AND REMY MA: MIKE PONT/WIREIMAGE; WESTBROOK: TAYLOR HILL /FILMMAGIC; SWEET: ERIC JAMISON/INVISION/AP; SCHL APMAN: JASON DAVIS/WIREIMAGE; FAIRCHILD: JASON DAVIS/WIREIMAGE
When Remy Ma took the stage at the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena last May, she wondered why everyone was cheering. The rapper was making an appearance during DJ Khaled’s opening set on Beyoncé’s Formation world tour, so when she saw the crowd, she assumed Jay Z, who was backstage, had joined her. Then she turned around and realized she was alone. “They were screaming like Tupac was alive,” says her mentor and collaborator Fat Joe. “To this day, Jay texts me, ‘Does she know that never happens?!’ He was concerned with [whether] she appreciated the moment.” She certainly did—for lots of reasons. In 2004, as members of the rap group Terror Squad, Remy and Joe were at the top of their game with their No. 1 smash “Lean Back.” But Remy’s career was soon interrupted by a six-year prison sentence stemming from a 2007 nightclub incident in which Remy (real