Fat Joe on Big Pun's Narcolepsy Helping Him Create Rhymes in His Sleep: 'This Guy Was Phenomenal'

Joe once claimed that rappers were afraid of getting on a song with Pun, and he would have to trick them into doing it.

July 31, 2024

Fat Joe in a tan suit and pink shirt on the left; Big Pun in a plaid shirt and gold necklace performing on stage on the right — Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images, Raymond Boyd / Getty Images

Fat Joe has claimed the late Big Pun was so gifted as a rapper that he used his narcolepsy diagnosis to his advantage and would write songs in his sleep.

During a visit to the Jay Shetty Podcast, Joey Crack spoke on his late friend's premature rap career and revealed that he would fall asleep out of nowhere due to his narcolepsy diagnosis. Because of that, Pun would have to write rhymes on a whim, which included when he was fast asleep, according to Fat Joe.

"He was so good. He was like a freak of nature, bro. He was a genius," Joe said. "He was so much better than me, like light years [ahead] of me. He actually taught me how to make hits, even though I discovered him."

He added, "He had that thing, narcolepsy or something, where he would fall asleep right on you. He would wake up and be like, 'Pass me the book!' He would have a whole song. He would write it in his sleep...I mean, this guy was phenomenal. From the first time I ever heard him I knew, like, 'This guy is the greatest. He's the best.' It was another level."

Big Pun passed away on Feb. 7, 2000, following a heart attack. Joe signed Pun to Terror Squad in 1997, and he dropped his debut album, Capital Punishment, the following year. The album would go on to peak at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart and earned Pun a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album at the 1999 ceremony.

Joe has long championed Pun as one of the greatest to ever grace a microphone. According to Joe, he had to trick other rappers to do a song with Pun as they were allegedly afraid to bar up with him. In an interview with Angie Martinez, Joe revealed how shook rappers were by Pun's rapping ability.

"In the most respectful way, it's kinda like I set up Nas on that record," said Joe about Pun's 1998 song, "John Blaze." "Because Pun really wanted to get on a record with Nas...Nas did the record one million percent, but there were artists — not Nas — that were really scared to jump on records with Pun. So we almost had to gas guys like, 'Yo, it's my record' and then throw Pun on it."