Gene Deal says a non-public jet journey to North Carolina became a verbal takedown of Jay-Z as Diddy” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Diddy and Ja Rule allegedly trashed the rapper’s early profession and claimed duty for his rise.

Deal, a longtime affiliate of the Bad Boy Records founder, recalled the second throughout an interview with The Art of Dialogue, saying the dialog between Diddy and Ja Rule centered on discrediting Jay-Z’s accomplishments and inspiring Ja to problem him publicly.

“We was catching the G4 jet, and we was going to North Carolina to do a show. So somehow he had Ja Rule to go with us,” Deal mentioned. “Him and Ja was talking. And this whole time him and Ja is talking, he talking about Ja going at Jigga. He was talking about Ja getting at Jay-Z, and he was talking bad and talking crazy about Jay Z.”

According to Deal, Ja Rule didn’t maintain again in claiming he performed a significant half in Jay-Z’s early success.

“Ja was talking about, if it wasn’t for him, that Jay wouldn’t be the artist he was,” Deal continued. “He got him started, you know, he wrote certain things and stuff like that to put him out there. Because, you know, back in the day, nobody was even effing with Jay like that. But Puff was adamant about Ja going at Jay.”

The feedback add a brand new layer to the long-standing however principally quiet dynamic between Jay-Z and Ja Rule, who first crossed paths within the mid-Nineteen Nineties.

Alongside DMX, the 2 had been a part of the short-lived rap trio Murder Inc., a bunch idea created by Irv Gotti, to not be confused with the later report label of the identical identify.

Their earliest collaboration got here in 1995 on Mic Geronimo’s “Time to Build,” a observe that featured all three future stars earlier than they broke out as solo acts.

By 1998, Jay-Z and Ja Rule teamed up once more on “Can I Get A…,” a chart-climbing single from the Rush Hour soundtrack and Jay-Z’s Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life album. The track helped elevate each artists’ profiles in mainstream Hip-Hop.

Despite their shared historical past, the 2 by no means fashioned an enduring alliance, however no main public feud ever erupted. Deal’s story suggests there might have been extra friction behind the scenes than the general public ever noticed.

His declare that Diddy was “adamant” about Ja Rule focusing on Jay-Z implies a degree of strategic rivalry that by no means totally materialized within the highlight.

Jay-Z, who has since change into Hip-Hop’s most influential mogul, has not addressed the claims both. His relationship with Ja Rule at the moment seems cordial however distant, with each artists specializing in their respective enterprise ventures and legacies.

Related