50 Cent is a legendary troll who’s had his sights set on Ja Rule for decades.
In a new conversation with Shannon Sharpe, Steve Stoute reminded us why the two Queens natives started beefing back in the late 90s.
“I think 50 knew that J was not who he was portraying as an image,” Stoute said, pointing out that Ja was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness at around the 51:00 minute mark of the video below. “J was coming out with this gangster image and [50] was like, ‘That's a stretch for you,’ right?”
“Then they had some very neighborhood beef and I remember when we signed 50 there was something going on—I think he snatched Ja’s chain,” Stoute continued, describing how 50 fought Ja in Atlanta. “I didn't even understand it. I'm like, ‘Why do you keep having problems with this guy?’ It was like [50] was looking for problems with him.
Apparently, Fif "didn't think [Ja] was authentic," Stoute added. In 2000, as the rappers' feud escalated, Ja and his crew robbed 50 at Hit Factory in New York City, which ended in 50 being stabbed and Ja and Black Child getting arrested.
Stoute also pointed out that the two rappers are a little too old to be beefing.
"You in your 40s, bro. What are you talking about? You got kids at home, you got a wife, we already know this is not what it is," he said.
“They're never going to be cool,” Stoute went on. “I'm happy that it's all kind of over with. What I don't like, at this point, is older Statesmen like them still beefing … makes the art form look bad.”
Stoute then gave some advice to anyone who ends up on Fif’s radar.
“50 is a wild boy,” the music exec said. “He doesn’t mind beefing with anybody, he loves it in fact. The attention from it, he understands what that brings. The best thing to do is ignore him. If you ignore him, then it’s over with. He really is doing it for the attention.”
Fifty has also found himself at odds with Diddy—and has been mocking the hip-hop mogul since Cassie accused him of sexual assault and abuse in November. This week, Ja took the opposite stance and showed his support, following a lawsuit filed by Lil Rod that also accuses Diddy of sexual assault.
“It’s another Black man in this industry going through some unfortunate circumstances,” Ja told Piers Morgan in an interview. “I wish [Diddy] luck with everything he’s going through
