Since Fat Joe and Ja Rule stepped off the stage following their Verzuz battle on Tuesday night, Joe has done nothing but sing the praises of his fellow New York rapper and Verzuz competitor. Despite the controversy surrounding Joe's Lil Mo comments and the whirlwind that was the Nelly/Ashanti hug, (as well as yet another Verzuz appearance from the undefeated Jadakiss), Joe's focus has remained on making sure Ja gets his flowers while he can still smell them.
In a video posted to DJ Akademiks Instagram page, Joe gets into the details of how the Verzuz battle came together and the type of hitmaker he had to go up against.
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"They come to me and they say, Joe we need you to do the Verzuz bad. We want you to do the Verzuz." the "Lean Back" rapper started out. "Without being disrespectful, there's a bag included ... then they say 'Joe, we have a law in Verzuz. Whoever gets this bag, we have to give the competitor the same bag. Who do you want to give the bag to?'"
Contemplating on who he wanted to bring on stage with him, Joe said there were a couple choices but only one true option came to mind: Ja Rule.
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"This man saved my life. This man needs to be in his notoriety. These people need to see his greatness," Joe said of the "Down 4 U" rapper, while also acknowledging the type of battle he was getting himself into.
"I put myself in the line of fire," Joe exclaimed. "I knew the man had 17 number ones! I'm not delusional!"
Fat Joe, with a painting of Big Pun hanging over his shoulder, went on to explain the rest of the negotiation process with Ja, including that Ja is one of his "best friends on Earth" and that he "went to war with Ja rule." And circling back to explain further just how many number one records Ja had, Joe built on his previous claim that Ja was "the Drake before the Drake" and ensured everyone knew what kind of battle he had gotten himself into.
Never one to mince words, the "All The Way Up" rapper was exaggerated in his praise for Ja and over the past couple of days has been hammering the point that this new generation doesn't know or understand the greatness that was Ja Rule.
What do you think? Is Joe right to pump up Ja at every turn? Is Ja really one of the most underrated acts to come through the rap game? Let us know in the comments.