Ja Rule, Jay Z, and DMX have had varying degrees of success since, but in the late 90s, all three of them were pretty much on top their game. It was around that time that the three rappers decided to come together for a supergroup, settling for the menacing name Murder Inc. Things never panned out for a full album, and Ja later took the name for his record label, but fans have continued to wonder what could have been for the group. In a new interview with MTV, Ja spoke of what caused the trio to fail, and whether or not there are some records in the vault the public has yet to hear.
“We tried to deliver that album. It was a situation where egos all just played a part in its demise,” explained Ja, suggesting that Hov and X's famous rap battle may have held back recording. "We couldn’t get X and Jay in the same room, from long ago, their storied battle on the pool table, guns out [and] all of that. That carried over into our careers and we were all trying to do our thing separately and it carried over. It was hard to get all of us into a room to do what we needed to do.”
While he expressed regret over never completing an album together, Ja was happy that the records Murder Inc did do together have stood the test of time. “We did a few records together and those records will always be classics to a lot of people in the history of hip-hop. I wish that album would’ve came to fruition, it would’ve been real dope,” he said, before alluding to some unreleased material from the group. “I think there might be one– one or two joints that’s still out there that you haven’t heard.”
Watch the full interview below.