Tim Westwood recently put out a previously unreleased interview with Ja Rule, presumably from 2004, as Rule talks about his newly released single, "New York," featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss. The interview also touches on Rule's highly publicized beef with 50 Cent, which was at its most tense about a year earlier.
"When I look at the whole situation, I'm like, 'damn,' you know, the world was very passionate about this whole situation, you know. And it just struck me as odd that people could be so passionate...People really taking sides, it was crazy," said Rule about his feud with 50 and G-Unit.
"I've seen a wild turn of events, though, you know, 'cause now I see people hatin' on him," Rule continued. "I'm going to radio stations, and it's so funny, because people are calling and they'll be like, 'Yeah, 'F' 50, he's wack,' and this, that -- I'm like, 'What?! How?' Just six months ago, I got that call, you understand what I'm sayin'?...It just bugs me out how the people could play with us artists."
The public obsession with Ja and 50's beef has recently been mirrored by that of Drake and Meek Mill, with most of the public siding with Drake and against Meek. Before Meek Mill suffered the recent "L," he was in a similarly successful position as was Rule when he was taken down by 50. Rule was never able to recover, and one has to wonder, "Did we tarnish a talented artist's legacy because of a sensationalized rap beef?" Will Meek suffer the same fate?
Westwood also asked Rule about the F.B.I. investigation on Murder Inc., which was still going on at the time of the interview, following a raid of the label's Manhattan headquarters in January 2003. "That's just the hip-hop police," asked Westwood, to which Rule laughed back, "Nah, that ain't the hip-hop police. That's the FBI."