Ja Rule: Life After Beef (INTERVIEW)

[Elano]

The last time Ja Rule was buzzworthy was during the times of the infamous G-Unit-Murder Inc. beef. But the Rule is back, and in fact, says that he has always been here, but just patiently waiting for the right time to re-emerge in the world of hip-hop. Although many speculated that since the annihilation of Murder Inc, Ja Rule would never be able to re-claim his former status or integrity in the game from fans or colleagues, he thinks differently.

His newest project, The Mirror, was slated for a November 2008 release, but due to supposed sample clearance issues, the release date was pushed further back. Hypothetically, Ja Rule wants The Mirror to be received as an internal manifestation for both himself and his fans. He walks us through events that he believes contributed to the overall triumph of his career and breaks down the reasoning behind an almost three year hiatus from putting out albums.

It seems like just you and Irv Gotti are left after the dust settled, do you feel like people turned on you due to the outcome of the beef between you and 50 Cent?


Ja Rule: I mean, it's the nature of people -- to be here and love you and everything is great when everything is good. When sh-- is bad, people tend to disappear. That's the nature of the world we live in. You can't fight it. You just got to deal with it and move on.

Your last two albums went gold, do you consider that an upset?

Not at all. I'm Ja Rule, so my standard, my mark has been set really high. So when I do projects, people expect me to sell three and four million records, and it's just not gonna happen every project. Especially right now when record sales are not that. So people that are looking for me to sell three and four million records, newsflash... It's not happening right now people. Nobody's doing that.

Do you feel like your declining record sales have anything do with switching off and on from street records to female records back to street records? Do you feel like it confuses your fan base?

I think it has a lot to do with the timing and they way the industry is moving. It's one of those things. I've been in the game so long, you know, people kind of can get a little bit tired. Sometimes you got to take a little bit of a break to relax, let the dust settle and come back and do your thing. Plus I had a lot of other issues, federal issues and beefs, so for me to just be able to relax and fall back from it all was more then a blessing.

Do you feel like the 50 Cent battle added value to the success of your career or took value away from it?

As I look at it in the long run, it added to what I do. Understand me? I was very known before the beef. Then you take into consideration that you got one of the biggest artists beefing with another one of the biggest artists, then you throw Eminem into that equation, it just spiraled into something so big. I can go to the tiniest crevice in the world and they'll be like "Oh sh--, that's Ja Rule." Good or bad!? You feel what I'm saying? And what it did was let people form whatever opinion they wanted to, good or bad. Like you know what "f--- him" or you know what "I like him." But, in a world that we live in, when you step outside the hip-hop bubble -- oh that has big dollars because of the fact that everybody knows who the f--- I am. To Corporate America, that's very big, cause they're like "Hate it or love him, if I attach the right product to him, and you like that product, you're going to go get it." If the product is worth getting, I don't give a f--- who's attached to it, but the fact is a guy that's attached to it, that can get everybody's attention is a good thing, its dollar signs for these other guys. I didn't realize that at first. Living inside this hip-hop bubble, you could kind of look at the way that the media throws their darts and people throw their darts like "Damn yo, I ain't popping right now." It's until you step outside that small world we live in called hip-hop, then you'll see there is such a big world out there. There's people that didn't even know I had a beef, they just heard my name through the grapevine. You know what I mean? There's people that I meet and don't know that I'm Ja Rule. But the minute I say my name, they like "Oh, sh--!" So, hate it or love it -- no pun intended. (Laughs)

How are you going to avoid any chance of anyone, including G-Unit, rekindling the infamous beef?

I'm not thinking about it at all. And anyone wasting time on it, is doing just that -- wasting time. The beef is like three years old and it started in the streets. So really, the media (y'all) have no clue what this sh-- is about. Y'all don't know where it stemmed from, where it came from or how it got dealt with. All y'all know is what he [50 Cent] said on records and what I said on records. That's all y'all know, and that's all y'all never gonna know until that day whenever it just leaks out and everything is everything. But that day will probably never come because I'm done talking about it.

When we were first introduced to you, you were with The Murderers doing the street thing. Then shortly after you became a real SoundScan killer when you found your niche singing on hooks to love centered rap joints, which one is the real Ja Rule?

Both of them is Ja Rule. You got to look at the spectrum of it all. I rhyme with conviction and with passion. So nobody didn't believe Ja Rule when I was screaming "It's Murda" and nobody didn't believe Ja Rule when I said "Put it on me." Y'all all believed, like "I feel what he's saying." To me that's what music, that's what artistry is about. Nobody wakes up on the same side of the bed. I don't wake up every morning mad; I don't wake up every morning happy. So, it's one of those things where you have to express that through your music. You can't be one dimensional when you claim that you wanna make music for the people. You look at a lot of artists and you see them do reality shows and you see a whole other side of the artist you never seen because they don't express it through their music. So you seeing a whole other side to the artist. With Ja Rule, you've met me. You've seen my dark side. You've seen my bright side. You've seen me be in love. You've seen Ja Rule. I'm not putting on a façade or a mask, this is who I am.

Do you feel like your girl songs made you vulnerable for people like 50 Cent to pick on? Do you feel like if you never made the girl records, you would still be in this quandary with G-Unit?

If I didn't make those records, there probably wouldn't be a 50 Cent, or the other artist that shared the format that I made very, very popular. I'm not saying I invented the format; I just made it hella popular. I made it cool to harmonize on a record. I made it cool to do that sh--. And when I did it, a lot of artists took to it and said "Yo, I always wanted to sing on a record." Andre 3000 started doing it. Nelly came out with those style records. F---in sh--, I just heard a record with Lil Wayne and Jay-Z and he's singing the whole f---in' hook! Matter fact, me and Weezy was together and he taking singing lessons! So I'm like "Listen man, everyone gon' ridicule me about what the f--- I do, step back and look in the mirror, n----." Feel what I'm saying? That's why album's called The Mirror 'cause it's your only place of truth. I can't lie to myself and you shouldn't be able to either. When you pick up that CD, look at yourself and answer your own questions.

Irv Gotti has been in and out of legal troubles for a long time now. Do you feel that he provides you a good home at the Inc? Even when he, the boss is having his own personal issues?

Yeah, this is home. You gotta understand Murder Inc is a stamp. It's a brand, no matter how you cut it or slice it. The brand helped a lot of careers. Just because the brand goes through some dark spot, doesn't mean you abandon the brand. For me, it's like a professional sports team. You got the franchise players and sometimes they unhappy. Sometimes they want to be traded. Is it right? You know what I'm saying? That's the point I'm making. Not to say that it's something that doesn't happen, but is it right? Just because right now Kobe's not winning in L.A., he wants to be traded. It happens all the time, but is it right? Like Kobe's asking to be traded from the Lakers after they f---in' gave up Shaq to keep you to make you happy. They fired Phil to keep you and make you happy. Loyalty should be respected and sometimes it's not. That's the only thing that f---ed up in the business we're in. There's no loyalty. Nobody respects it at all.

Speaking of loyalty, Irv went onto the Wendy Williams show recently and aired out Nelly and Ashanti. Do you feel like that's right?

I mean that's their business.

Nelly and Ashanti's business? Or Irv's for airing it out?

Irv and Ashanti's. It's not my business. It's not my business to comment on it like that because it's not my situation. So anything that I can say just adds to it. It just gives a chance for another media outlet to say "Ja said this" when it's really not my situation.

Is Ashanti still on the label?

Yes, Ashanti's still here.

Ashanti has had a hard time coming out since Concrete Rose didn't measure up to her prior projects. Do you feel like the 50 Cent beef had any negative consequences on her career as well?

 I don't think that 50 Cent had anything to do with anybody's career per se. We went through our little whatever, whatever. I think he had to do with the hate that ensued from the public. As far as career wise, everybody's still good career wise. We may not be selling the records that we were selling before, but to me the industry is f---ed up. Nobody's selling those records, so it's kind of hard to point the finger at Murder Inc. I can look at a lot of artists pointing fingers and say "N----, did you ever those kinds of records? Do you know what that feels like to sell three or four million records?" To some degree, it's a slap in the face to point the finger, but then on the next degree, it's kind of like a cop out for us to say that we didn't have our differences and our problems. You understand? You got to understand it was all hand in hand, there was problems, there was differences and the record industry was falling off. It was just timing and it just looks bad. But I'm not mad at my sales of my last projects. Those sh--s didn't do bad. Blood Of My Eye went gold and R.U.L.E. is pushing platinum. I'm like "Yo, I'm alright. We alright."

Why do you think there is such a lack of assortment with hip-hop artists these days?

Cause first of all, artists lack creativity. A lot of artists just want to make money, so they'll follow what makes money last. They don't give a f--- if it's a sing-a-long record or a tough guy record or whatever. They just watch for sales and the charts and then they go in on the record trying to make a record like that. Instead of saying, "I'm my own artist, I got my own vibe and my own zone. Maybe if I came out with this style or this type of record, it may change the way people view records. And I may be the new sh--." That was the level of thinking that I was on when I did "Put It On Me." I was thinking, alright Jay's got this lane, he's flossed out, he got that. X is over here, he got the grimy sh--, he got that. Nobody's f---in' with the women. I got that! I'm gonna use that and that's my sh--. And maybe that will change the way people view hip-hop at the moment since they only viewed it from two areas: flossed out or grimy. Every n---- coming out was either grimy or flossy until Ja came out f---in' with the women and really, really started getting radio spins. Then artists were like "Oh, sh--! Maybe if I make records for the chicks, I'll get that look."

I have to mention your body because everyone is talking about how you got ripped and put on some very visible muscle mass. What sparked this upgrade?

For me, I read a lot of books. In one of my books that I was reading, it talks about body and mind and how when you physically feel confident, when you can look in the mirror and feel good about yourself, it carries over to everything else. You think more positive. I've always had a nice physical build, but with this project I had to get my mind right. And in order to get my mind right, I had to get my physical right.

[CRAFTY]

Nice interview, thanks.

[Mo Z. Dizzle]

Nice interview, thanks.

[R1ZE]

Do you feel like your girl songs made you vulnerable for people like 50 Cent to pick on? Do you feel like if you never made the girl records, you would still be in this quandary with G-Unit?

If I didn't make those records, there probably wouldn't be a 50 Cent, or the other artist that shared the format that I made very, very popular. I'm not saying I invented the format; I just made it hella popular. I made it cool to harmonize on a record. I made it cool to do that sh--. And when I did it, a lot of artists took to it and said "Yo, I always wanted to sing on a record." Andre 3000 started doing it. Nelly came out with those style records. F---in sh--, I just heard a record with Lil Wayne and Jay-Z and he's singing the whole f---in' hook! Matter fact, me and Weezy was together and he taking singing lessons! So I'm like "Listen man, everyone gon' ridicule me about what the f--- I do, step back and look in the mirror, n----." Feel what I'm saying?

Guess he never heard of Bone Thugs

[Borat Sagdiyev]

Very nice interviews.  It will be a nice to see how his new albums will be.  Not really looking to make a purchase, but will make a free hook up when ready.

[arthurnelson88]

i kno he gittin mad at all the 50 cent questions and remarks lol

[Bch]

nothin but the truth in this interview..

very level headed intelligent dude

[MontrealCity's Most]

HAs anyone in the rap game been destryoed as HArd as JA tho seriously, theres been tons of beefs i dont think anyone has been destryoed as bad.