There has been an ongoing conversation in the hip hop culture and beyond regarding ethnic inclusions and exclusions of Latinos in the Caribbean. The most recent, and notable, artist to tackle this topic has been Cardi B who has been vocal about her Dominican roots while sharing that she considers herself to be a black woman. She has shared, however, that there are plenty of people who don't share her same views.
During his visit to Hot 97, New York rapper Fat Joe, who is of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent, was involved in a discourse about the controversial topic with Ebro Darden. The talk show host shared a clip of the conversation that began with Joe emphasizing "all music is African" and that he's been in tune with Afro-beats throughout his career.
Things quickly moved from music to the are-Caribbean-Latinos-black dialogue, in which Joe stated that the answer is yes. "All the music is African, but you right, even in Puerto Rico when you go to the Caribbean—alright, let's speak about Latinos not being black. Latinos are black. In Cuba, at one time, there was eight million Cubans," Joe said. "Five million, unfortunately, were slaves. Three million were actual Cubans, and the integrated and had babies. Same thing with Puerto Rico when you go to Loíza. You talk about Santeria, that came from the motherland Africa. Sometimes, Latinos may even identify themselves with African and black culture more than black people. This ain't no crazy thing. Fat Joe ain't on crack. He know what he talkin' 'bout." Thoughts?
