For all of the flak he’s received throughout his career, Ja Rule has had an undeniable impact on hip hop music that isn’t up for debate. However, imagine if his career had went in the other planned direction.
Back in 1995 Ja had teamed with Jay-Z and DMX to form a group, the original Murder Inc., which made their debut on Mic Geronimo’s “Time To Build.” The group would connect, in variations, on several tracks throughout the 90s (most notably “Murdagram” and “It’s Murda“), but the group never realized their potential which led Ja and Irv Gotti to transform Murder Inc. into their own venture.
Ja spoke to HHDX about the group, sharing his point of view about the supergroup that never was. “We knew what was going on, but it was kind of like pulling teeth to get it done. Jay and X, you couldn’t get them in the same room together,” Ja said about the latter two’s once-complicated relationship. “I was the new artist, so that was an honor for me to be able to walk with those dudes, but for me… I’d known them before they were who they were and it was like, ‘Okay, I’m rhyming with my partners. My homies.’”
