The Elephant in the Room (album)

The Elephant in the Room is the eighth studio album by American rapper Fat Joe. The album was released on March 11, 2008, by Terror Squad, Virgin Records, and Imperial Records. Production for the album was done by Scott Storch, Cool and Dre, Danja, DJ Khaled, DJ Premier, Swizz Beatz, The Alchemist, Streetrunner, and The Hitmen, and guest contributions came from artists like Beatz, Plies, Lil Wayne, J. Holiday, and KRS-One.

The album received a generally positive reception but critics felt it was inconsistent in its mixture of production and lyricism. The Elephant in the Room spawned two singles: "I Won't Tell" and "Ain't Sayin' Nothin'". The album debuted at number six on the US Billboard 200, selling 47,000 copies in its first week.

Critical reception

The Elephant in the Room garnered positive reviews but music critics were divided by the production and lyrical content. Nathan Slavik of DJBooth praised the album's varied production for allowing Joe to deliver different topics through various regional flows, saying that, "While Joe has never produced a truly classic album, Elephant In The Room proves that his contributions to the game have been significant and long-lasting." AllMusic editor David Jeffries also praised Joe for changing his flow when switching from street tracks to radio singles, despite finding the drug talk monotonous and a lack of cohesion between him and the producers, concluding with, "Still, Joe warns the listener right at the beginning that he's more Eazy-E than Ice Cube -- and for three-fourths of the album, he's spot on." Latifah Muhammad of AllHipHop found a lack of cohesion between Joe and the producers on the record but felt that he managed to deliver tracks both commercially and artistically, saying that it "manages to show off Joes'’ clever mixture of street anthems and radio shiny tunes."

HipHopDX staff writer Mcooper found a lack of consistency throughout the album, praising some tracks for its mixture of new-school production and lyrics reminiscent of old-school hip-hop but found the rest of it weak and hollow, saying that "Joe has the talent to put out a classic caliber album, but as long as he wants to stay current with the downloads and ringtones, that vision may not come to pass." Ben Westhoff of The Phoenix was mixed about the record, finding the lyrical content generic but felt that Joe added some needed empathy in his material, saying that "What makes it work is his vulnerability, a rare commodity in hip-hop. Unlike associate Rick Ross, who keeps letting you know that he’s the “boss,” Joe just wants to entertain you." Jesal Padania of RapReviews felt that Joe copied the formula from Me, Myself & I for the album, criticizing the production for being mediocre at best and not allowing him to make good use of them, saying that "In other words, can I really recommend you purchasing this album? Not really - and I would class myself as a Fat Joe fan.