Released: 2017 • Features: Remy Ma, French Montana, InfaRed
“All The Way Up” by Fat Joe featuring Infrared is a braggadocious anthem of success and relentless ambition. Its lyrical content is centered around wealth, luxury, and the rapper’s rise from humble beginnings to the top of the hip-hop game. Fat Joe illustrates his wealth and status through references to luxurious vehicles, high fashion luxury brands, recreational activities involving drugs and alcohol, and vivid imagery of a lavish lifestyle.
The song’s hook, “Nothin’ can stop me, I’m all the way up”, is a powerful statement of Fat Joe’s unstoppable energy and ambition. The repetition of “all the way up” emphasizes his ascendancy and stratospheric success. He’s assuring anyone listening that he’s reached a level where few can touch him, perpetuated by his claim to be unstoppable.
When Fat Joe says, “My niggas run the game, we ain’t ever leavin'”, he’s staking his claim to the hip hop game and expressing his crew’s long-lasting influence. Phrases like “Countin’ up this money, we ain’t never sleepin'” further illustrates the hustler’s mentality, the non-stop grind for success, and riches that Fat Joe associates with his position at the top. “You got V12, I got 12 V’s” is a clever wordplay on his superior car game, insinuating he has twelve vehicles instead of one.
In the verse, Fat Joe raps “For my niggas with Bentley coupes and Rolexes”, shouting out to his peers who also enjoy the high life, boasting luxury car brands and expensive watches. When he states, “Had to stash the jewels, these bitches so reckless”, he’s conveying his need to protect his wealth from opportunistic individuals. “Champion sound, yeah, I got a few rings” serves as a metaphor for his successful career in the music industry, comparing it to a championship sports team.
In the lines “Just left the big house to a bigger house, ain’t have a girlfriend but the bitch is out”, Fat Joe is narrating his rise in status and wealth. The references to “Chanel croc bag, shit ain’t even out” and “gold chains, Himalayan, Birkin cocaine”, are emblems of his high-status lifestyle—the rare and exorbitantly expensive fashion items, Himalayan Birkin being one of the world’s most expensive handbags.
In the lines “I’m talkin’ color money, purple Yen and blue Dirham, I got brown Lira, I ain’t talkin’ ’bout Ross bitch”, Fat Joe is bragging about his international success, referencing different currencies, and explicitly disassociates his wealth from Rick Ross’s record label, Maybach Music Group, known as “MMG” or “the untouchable empire”, poking at him in a lighthearted, competitive spirit, further asserting his dominance in the rap game.
Thus, Fat Joe’s “All The Way Up” is a testament to his journey upward from the streets of the Bronx to high levels of wealth and fame in the rap industry, showcasing his extravagant lifestyle, while maintaining his assertive demeanor and untouchable status in the game. A quintessential hip-hop track that toasts to the good life while refusing to forget the hustle that got him there.
