I had a chance to speak with rapper Fat Joe over the phone during his recent publicity stop in Atlanta to promote upcoming brawler Def Jam: Icon.

I was working on a story about hip hop culture for the Rocky, part of a package they did on the subject that examined both the culture and some of the violence tied to it.

I thought it was sort of ironic that a culture that seems at times held back by negative stereotypes would so exhuberently embrace a game that is all about linking violence and hip hop.

Fat Joe didn't see a problem:

While the game seems to play up violence in the hip-hop industry and among its biggest stars, Fat Joe downplays that. "Playing a video game is similar to creating hip hop music," he said. "It's not real, your having fun and kicking someone's (ass), but when you turn it off you go back to your normal everyday life." "This is therapeutic." Fat Joe says he's not worried about the game influencing kids or casting hip-hop in a bad light. "You have to keep it real," he says laughing. "Kids have much worse things going on in their lives than a video game."

Fat Joe also told me that he plays mostly on the Xbox 360, though he owns a PS3 as well. He said he favorite games, besides the Def Jam franchise, are sports titles. I asked if he had an early build of Icon for his house and he said he was "working on it." Brian Crecente

Rappers brawl in upcoming 'Def Jam: Icon' [Freeplay]