Nothing seems to make 50 Cent happier than roasting his decades-long rival Ja Rule. Rule gave 50 more fuel for the fire after a clip of the Murder Inc. rapper’s elaborate stage performance for one song hit the internet.
Ja Rule was at the 2023 Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) R&B/HipHop Music Awards in Miami on Sept. 6, where he performed his song “One of Us.” The song has very religious themes, and Ja Rule appropriated Christian iconography for his performance on Wednesday.
The “Livin’ It Up” rapper is shown being raised on wooden post, shirtless, with his hands and feet bound. He also has background singers in white church robes, with a fog machine going, and a video of a sun rising playing behind him. While some, like former NFL player Marcus Peterson, called the performance blasphemous, 50 found nothing but humor.
The “Many Men” rapper posted the clip to his Instagram with the caption, “[eyes emoji] look at this s—-head, is he supposed to be Jesus. [laughing emoji] WTF you can’t make this s—t up. LOL so stupid! #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi”
Fans laughed at Ja, but even more poked fun at the fact that the rivalry is still going on.
“This beef gone live longer than Ray & Claude did on life.”
“20 years of smoke is crazy.”
“The fact 50 has long won this war and has achieved unimaginable success he’s still never rich enough to clown ja. That’s called dedicated to the cause.”
50 and Ja Rule started beefing all the way back at the end of the 1990s. Fif says that the animosity started after Ja Rule was robbed at gunpoint by one of his associates. He says he saw Ja Rule in a club following the robbery and Ja gave him the cold shoulder.
The frequent Ashanti collaborator has a different recollection of events. He confirms that he was robbed, but he has claimed that he never saw 50. He believes the beef started after Murder Inc. snubbed 50 early in his career.
At the height of the beef there were physical altercations and 50 was even stabbed by Murder Inc.’s Black Child. As the two New York rappers have aged, the beef has become less violent and more petty.
The beef lives mainly through social media comments, and podcast appearances. On occasion one side will do something publicly, like Ja Rule calling 50 a bad father on live TV, and 50 allegedly buying 200 front row seats at a Ja Rule concert “just so they could be empty.”
Ja Rule has claimed that the beef is more of a show than anything. In 2013, the pair even ended up on the same flight. Ja tweeted about the experience saying “What are the chances me and 50 same flight same row no problems!!! #Grownmansh-t”.
In an interview from this year with “the Shade Room” the rapper put an end to the beef saying, “We don’t have a issue. We don’t have a problem.”
Now he is just waiting for 50 to get the memo.
