Ja Rule says the internet could have changed his feud with 50 Cent: 'It would have been a different story'

The rapper discussed how digital era has changed the landscape of rap beefs, using Drake & Kendrick's feud as example.

Ja Rule is looking back on his infamous feud with 50 Cent, and according to him, things would have played out much differently if social media had been around at the time.

In a recent interview with Hot 97’s TT Torrez, the 49-year-old rapper discussed how the digital era has changed the landscape of rap beefs, using Drake and Kendrick Lamar's recent feud as an example.

“I kind of wish I had the internet when I had my beef going on,” Ja Rule said at the 43:30 mark of the interview. “I would’ve seen things in real time, you know what I'm saying? They would’ve seen who this guy is in real time, and then it would have been a different outlook on what this is. You would’ve been like, ‘Oh, now I get it. This guy's a f*cking fraud.’ You don't get a chance to see that, feel that… ‘cuz there was no internet.”

Ja Rule also weighed in on Drake’s current situation following his highly publicized battle with Kendrick Lamar last summer, noting how social media dissects every lyric in real time. “Drake's in a position right now, and I know this position well,” Ja reflected. “He's in a position where two plus two is adding up to seven, and he just doesn’t understand it. He’s like, ‘How can I be the hottest motherf*cker for 10 years and now everybody wants me to lose?’ He’s not understanding the dynamic of that.”

Drawing a sports analogy, Ja Rule compared Drake’s battle for public approval to Bronny James, who must prove himself in the NBA despite being the son of LeBron James. He also related it to his own career, explaining how public opinion shifted in 50 Cent’s favor, despite Ja making hit records.

“You gotta prove it on the court,” Ja explained. “That’s why I love athletics so much. Because I can be the hardest working motherfcker in this industry and then fcking doing the greatest sht, killing it, putting up records people love, and then 50 Cent comes out, shts on me [and] everybody says, ‘Oh, we like him better than Ja Rule now.’”

When asked if Drake should follow his blueprint, Ja emphasized that talent alone doesn’t always win in rap beefs. “Drake could go and make a thousand fcking dope records right now. People are rejecting his deposit. So that’s what he’s going through right now,” he said. “But if he was an athlete, and you go put up fcking 55—you gonna put up 60 points in the night, I can't deny that, man.”

Ja Rule ended with a simple piece of advice: “Here’s my message to anybody: stay out of rap beefs.”

Despite years of back-and-forth with 50 Cent, Ja says he’s moved on. “I don’t give a fck what happened,” he declared. “I’m a real one, you know what I’m saying? I don’t think about that sht, it don’t bother me.”