Photo: Fat Joe/InstagramFat Joe celebrated his son’s birthday with a heartwarming Instagram post on Wednesday.“How do you tell someone who’s given you so much joy in life thank you???. How do you tell your best friend and most loyal one thank you??. I am so proud of Joey he’s my heart & soul,“the “All The Way Up” rappershared.“I love you Joey, we all love you Joey, thank you for being my Biggest blessing in life! 🙏🏽💙Happy Birthday Joey, God bless you"The performer, 51, opened up about Joey’s birth when he was a teenager and becoming a young father.“Life is full of surprises. I was just a kid at 19 years old when i had Joey. It was one of the scariest days of my life.““Doctors said he wouldn’t be normal and kids like this are hard to deal with. Not once did me and my family think of giving up on Joey,” the American rapper explained of his son who has special needs.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.“He’s my jr. it’s a lot of work it’s a constant sacrifice that parents make to keep their children happy and most of all safe,” he continued.In the tribute post,the New York City nativediscussed the importance of protecting Joey and keeping him out of the limelight “cause they’re bad elements out there I never wanted him exposed to.“Johnny Nunez/WireImageHowever, Joey’s birthday was an exception to his self-imposed privacy rule as the father of three shared about all this son has achieved.“Joey has accomplished above and beyond & i also believe he keeps my parents alive cause they love him sooooooo much,” he added.

Photo: Fat Joe/Instagram

Fat Joe, joey

Fat Joe celebrated his son’s birthday with a heartwarming Instagram post on Wednesday.“How do you tell someone who’s given you so much joy in life thank you???. How do you tell your best friend and most loyal one thank you??. I am so proud of Joey he’s my heart & soul,“the “All The Way Up” rappershared.“I love you Joey, we all love you Joey, thank you for being my Biggest blessing in life! 🙏🏽💙Happy Birthday Joey, God bless you"The performer, 51, opened up about Joey’s birth when he was a teenager and becoming a young father.“Life is full of surprises. I was just a kid at 19 years old when i had Joey. It was one of the scariest days of my life.““Doctors said he wouldn’t be normal and kids like this are hard to deal with. Not once did me and my family think of giving up on Joey,” the American rapper explained of his son who has special needs.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.“He’s my jr. it’s a lot of work it’s a constant sacrifice that parents make to keep their children happy and most of all safe,” he continued.In the tribute post,the New York City nativediscussed the importance of protecting Joey and keeping him out of the limelight “cause they’re bad elements out there I never wanted him exposed to.“Johnny Nunez/WireImageHowever, Joey’s birthday was an exception to his self-imposed privacy rule as the father of three shared about all this son has achieved.“Joey has accomplished above and beyond & i also believe he keeps my parents alive cause they love him sooooooo much,” he added.

Fat Joe celebrated his son’s birthday with a heartwarming Instagram post on Wednesday.

“How do you tell someone who’s given you so much joy in life thank you???. How do you tell your best friend and most loyal one thank you??. I am so proud of Joey he’s my heart & soul,“the “All The Way Up” rappershared.

“I love you Joey, we all love you Joey, thank you for being my Biggest blessing in life! 🙏🏽💙Happy Birthday Joey, God bless you”

The performer, 51, opened up about Joey’s birth when he was a teenager and becoming a young father.

“Life is full of surprises. I was just a kid at 19 years old when i had Joey. It was one of the scariest days of my life.”

“Doctors said he wouldn’t be normal and kids like this are hard to deal with. Not once did me and my family think of giving up on Joey,” the American rapper explained of his son who has special needs.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

“He’s my jr. it’s a lot of work it’s a constant sacrifice that parents make to keep their children happy and most of all safe,” he continued.

In the tribute post,the New York City nativediscussed the importance of protecting Joey and keeping him out of the limelight “cause they’re bad elements out there I never wanted him exposed to.”

Johnny Nunez/WireImage

Nas Fat Joe

However, Joey’s birthday was an exception to his self-imposed privacy rule as the father of three shared about all this son has achieved.

“Joey has accomplished above and beyond & i also believe he keeps my parents alive cause they love him sooooooo much,” he added.

source: people.com