Radio disses, Photoshop handiwork and in-person fist-swinging it's been a long weekend in the Fat Joe vs. 50 Cent saga.

50 played host on New York radio station Power 105.1 on Thursday
and Friday and took time to play some music from Joe his most bitter
hip-hop rival not named Ja Rule or the Game. The thing is, he talked
over the record while insulting Joe. Papoose was on-air with 50 during
one of the tirades.

On Friday in North Carolina, a show promoter who clearly is not
in the know booked Joe and Pap for the same show. Both MCs, and their
accompanying parties, came to blows. Other than that, the story is
murky. Some reports say Fat Joe and his large entourage thumped Papoose
and his folks down. Other reports say Pap handled Joe.

"What happens in the streets stays in the streets," Pap told
MTV News on Monday (March 3). "It was definitely an altercation. I
stood tall. Yes, I invited [Joe] for a fair [one-on-one fight], he
refused. Yes, I put my hands on him. That's all I'm saying."

Pap said a falling-out between Fat Joe and Pap's mentor DJ Kay Slay is at the heart of his problems with Joe.

"It goes back to the same thing," he said. "If you having
problems with any of my people, you have a problem with me. I'm a loyal
dude. Don't come at me sideways. I'm from Brooklyn. I consider myself
to be the most hated MC. A lot of people don't wanna see me come up
because of fear of losing their position. You can do your homework I
just keep coming with consistency."

Papoose has also had recent run-ins with underground artist Max
B ("You disrespect Kay Slay, you disrespecting Papoose," Pap sad of his
problems with Jim Jones' protégé) and Uncle Murda.

"I deal with pure talent," Pap began to describe of all his
hip-hop beefs. I don't come to the industry to try and glorify
[violence]. I never had to dis nobody to get ahead. When those things
came at me, I always reacted to them. I'm a counter-puncher."

If you believe the pictures of Fat Joe that have been floating
around the Web the past couple of days, Papoose is the second coming of
Clubber Lang, Ivan Drago and the Soda Popinski from "Mike Tyson's
Punchout" rolled into one. Photos show Joe sporting two black eyes, a
bandage and stitches. A blog post from 50 Cent's Web site was sent out via e-mail saying Pap had beaten the stuffing out of Joe during their fight.

It's all great comedy, if you ask Fat Joe himself. The photo was
clearly digitally enhanced, and the Bronx MC told MTV News that the pic
was taken last year while he was at a Knicks game. The real photo has
indeed surfaced, showing Joey Crack with no scars.

"If I did get black eyes, why would I go to the Knicks game
with black eyes?" said Joe, who performed Friday and has made a gaggle
of personal appearances over the past few days. "C'mon, my n---a. I'm
always OK."

On Monday night, Joe shot some video of himself without a
scratch. In the clip, he's rapping, dancing and smiling. Again, he
addressed the Papoose conflict, singling out 50 Cent.

"You in the Neverland Ranch over there in the house over there
in Connecticut," he said of 50, blaming him personally for the doctored
photos. "Can't come out your f---ing house playing with this Internet
sh--."

Papoose, on the other hand, said he admires the G-Unit ringleader.

"I got a lot of respect for 50," Pap said. "If you don't like 50
Cent, you might just be a hater. You might be mad at yourself. This is
a dude that came form the bottom, the gutter. At one time, the industry
was so closed off, nobody could get in. 50 was the dude that opened the
door and broke through. He went to the top."

Papoose just released his new mixtape, Build or Destroy, while Joe is touring the country promoting the release of his new LP, The Elephant in the Room, which drops March 11.