''Darkside III'' is the third volume in the Darkside series by rapper

Fat Joe Joseph Antonio Cartagena (born August 19, 1970), better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper from New York City. He began his music career as a member of hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), then forged a sol ...

. The mixtape was released August 26, 2013 via

DatPiff DatPiff is an online audio distribution platform that was launched in 2005. It is headquartered in Pennsylvania. It specializes in hip-hop, rap, and urban music. The site was founded in the spring of 2005 by Marcus Frasier. It is owned by Media ...

Background

On December 3, 2012 the sequel to

The Darkside Vol. 2 ''The Darkside Vol. 2'' is the second mixtape by rapper Fat Joe. The mixtape was released October 31, 2011. The mixtape's production was primarily handled by Mark Henry, Hype and RoJ & TwinkiE. Background Originally after the release of ''The ...

track Angel Sings was released with Fat Joe announcing Darkside III was in the works at the end of the song. On December 20, 2012 he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and was released on bail. The video for ''Angels Say 2'' produced by Eif Rivera was released on January 7, 2013. On February 21, 2013 a new track with accompanying video directed by Mind Muscle CX was released titled ''Ceilings 2 The Sky''. On June 24, 2013 Joe was sentenced to 4 months in prison to begin on August 26, 2013 for tax evasion. After a tweet from a fan on July 9, 2013 he confirmed the Darkside III release date. On July 4, 2013 he revealed on Twitter that he had been given a beat by

9th Wonder Patrick Denard Douthit (born January 15, 1975),
better known as 9th Wonder, is a Cool and Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

Diamond D Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D, is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, abbreviated as D.I.T. ...

, Illa Da Producer and Streetrunner.

Promotion

Interviews

On August 3, 2013 Fat Joe appeared on the

Power 105 WWPR-FM (105.1 FM) is an urban contemporary music radio station licensed to New York City. WWPR-FM is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts from studios in the former AT&T Building in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan; its transmitter is lo ...

Breakfast Club and spoke about ending the beef with

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 2000, when he produced ...

amongst other things. He also appeared on

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

on August 6, 2013 mainly to promote his ''Love Me Long'' time single but also spoke briefly about Darkside III. On August 9, 2013 he was interviewed on

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

and spoke exclusively about Darkside Vol. 3 and reuniting with old friend

who was responsible for Joe joining the 1990s hip hop group Diggin' in the Crates.

Singles

"Angel Sings 2" was the first song released off the mixtape on December 20, 2012 The first official single from ''Darkside III'', "Your Honor" featuring

Action Bronson Ariyan Arslani (born December 2, 1983), professionally known as Action Bronson, is an American rapper, songwriter, chef, wrestler, exotic olive oil taster, and television presenter. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he embarked on his musical ...

and produced by

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

, was premiered on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius S ...

Hip-Hop Nation Since 2008, Sirius XM Radio has had a similar channel lineup, with a few differences based on whether the individual has a Sirius, XM, or SiriusXM radio. For technical reasons, separate radios continue to be manufactured for the separate services ...

on August 23, 2013 and released shortly after.

Videos

On the day of the mixtape release a video for the first song ''Darkside III'' was released on

World Star Hip Hop WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fro ...

Critical reception

''Darkside III'' was met with generally positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. HipHopDX called it "EP-worthy" saying, "As legendary and respected as Fat Joe has become as an emcee through years of gaining stock in the game, he also attempts mightily to paint an environment that darts and dashes between decadence and sophistication. At times he succeeds, and at others he unwittingly falters, but the beats never let him down."

Track listing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darkside Vol. 2, The 2013 mixtape albums Fat Joe albums Sequel albums Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by 9th Wonder Albums produced by Cool & Dre Albums produced by Sap (producer)