Rap star says hip-hop beefs are bad for the culture (and business)

Rap beefs have long been a part of hip-hop, from Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur to Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake.

But one rapper who has long feuded with a fellow 2000s music star says he thinks they’re bad for the culture — and for business. Ja Rule spoke about his conflict with 50 Cent during a new interview with former Syracuse basketball star Carmelo Anthony on Melo’s “7PM in Brooklyn” podcast.

“I don’t think or feel hip-hop beefs are good for for the culture,“ Rule said. “What did it ever bring hip-hop that was so significant that we’re like, ‘Yo, let’s keep doing this.’ Big and Pac both got killed.”

“You know, me and 50 s— was me and 50 s—,” he continued. “For years (Jay-Z) and Nas had their thing where, you know, how much business and things they probably could have did as men… if that little riff or tiff didn’t happen. Then you look at Kendrick and Drake. Nothing good is coming out of any of these things.”

Ja Rule and 50 Cent were two of the music stars of the 2000s. Rule’s hits included “Always on Time,” “Mesmerize,” “Wonderful,” “Put It On Me” and “Livin’ It Up,” while Fiddy was a club and radio staple with songs like “In Da Club,” “Candy Shop,” “21 Questions,” “P.I.M.P.” and “Just a Lil Bit.”

Rule said their beef separated hip-hop fans in New York, when they could have made more money if they worked together.

“Everybody could have just been getting money and doing… and now hip-hop’s in a state where it looks dark for hip-hop. It really does,” Rule said, as Kazeem Famuyide noted that the Billboard Hot 100 chart recently featured zero rap songs in the top 40 for the first time in 35 years. “You got to see the collaborations… I want to see Rick Ross and Drake do another [song]. I love their record together.”

Anthony then noted that fans would similarly ask why Ja Rule doesn’t do a song with 50 Cent. But while Ross and Drake have recently feuded, they did previously collaborate on several hit songs.

“We’ve never done a record together,” Rule said of 50 Cent. “Hypothetically, what could that have been if two Queens juggernauts came together and made some money together? What what could it have been if me and Nas would have did the collab like we was going to do and it didn’t come to fruition? Or me Jay and X would have did the Murder Inc. project?”

Besides his music career, Ja Rule has appeared in more than 30 movies and TV shows, including “The Fast and the Furious” and “Scary Movie 3.” He’s also known for co-founding the disastrous Fyre Festival and spent two years in prison at Mid-State Correctional in Central New York for illegal gun possession.

Ja Rule said he’s concerned about the state of hip-hop in general. AI-generated songs, fewer record labels pushing money towards rap, and shorter attention spans have changed the music industry.

“We live in this microwave f—ing society of mentality,” Rule said. “People’s attention spans is like nothing. And so the shorter the songs are, the better. The shorter the films are, the better… it’s very different now.”

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