Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 (J.O.S.E. 2)

Background

On February 26, 2009, Virgin Records announced that this album would be released on April 7. It was later delayed to May 19, late June, and September 22, before Joe announced on his Twitter feed that the album would be released on October 6. Fat Joe explained to XXL on May 22 that he delayed the album due to a lack of promotion. The day of the label's announcement, Fat Joe held a listening party for the album. Prior to the release of the album on October 6, rival 50 Cent, issued a number of viral videos poking fun at the album as it was about to be released. Fat Joe replied with messages via his Twitter page, saying; "50 is sick that my album is so hot. That real music! Not that wack stuff him and his clowns are making."

Singles

The first single was "One" featuring Akon; Fat Joe commented that his marriage inspired this song. "One" peaked at number 74 on the Billboard R&B chart. The second single is "Aloha" featuring Pleasure P and Rico Love.

Critical reception

Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 received mixed reviews from music critics who found Joe trying too hard to recapture J.O.S.E.'s commercial success while appealing to a younger hip-hop audience. Mariel Concepcion of Billboard praised the production for being energetic and versatile for Joe to rap over, saying that "the Bronx-bred rapper again proves that he's got a knack for infectious beats." Sean A. Malcolm of XXL said that despite some tracks feeling dull and monotonous, he praised Joe for maintaining his New York roots while mixing it with his newfound Miami influence through his performance, concluding that "Sequels rarely live up to the original, and J.O.S.E. 2 is no exception. But, in the end, with his string of hits, Fat Joe still remains one to envy." AllMusic's David Jeffries said that the album follows the same formula as J.O.S.E., noticing the tracks' high-end production and star-worthy featured artists saying, "The track list is right-sized and the rhymes are amusing the whole way through, making the title the only thing left to gripe about."

Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews was mixed towards the album, noting that Joe goes back and forth delivering sub-standard lyrics over production that's commercially tasteful, saying that, "I suppose Joe can't be blamed for trying to stay trendy so he doesn't become irrelevant, but in working hard to combat his complacency he's gone the opposite direction and become the one thing no rapper should ever be - the old dude in the room everybody's snickering at because he thinks he's being cool when he's not." Andres Tardio of HipHopDX said that despite tracks like "Congratulations", "One" and "Joey Don't Do It" having eclectic production and sharp lyricism, the album falters with an overabundance of Auto-Tune over anonymous club tracks, saying that, "Though J.O.S.E. 2 shines when Joe is not chasing formulaic records, the cookie cutter style he often uses makes this album lose its impact."

Sales and accolades

Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 debuted at number 73 on the Billboard 200 for the week of October 24, 2009 and only sold 8,300 copies for its first week before leaving the chart the next week. By June 2010, the album had sold 20,000 copies in the United States. In 2012, Vibe added the album in its list of twelve rap album sequels that should have never happened. Vibe editor Chris Yuscavage found it inferior to Joe's 2001 commercial breakthrough saying, "With J.O.S.E. 2, he tried to emulate that feeling by selecting a host of commercially-viable producers (Jim Jonsin, Rico Love and–gulp–Ron Browz, included) and failed miserably by deviating away from his core fan base. J.O.S.E. 2 was too much of a bad thing."

Personnel

Credits for Jealous Ones Still Envy 2 (J.O.S.E. 2) adapted from AllMusic.