Irv Gotti Explains Why The Jay-Z, DMX, Ja Rule Collab Album Never Happened

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PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 20: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY - For Non-Editorial use please seek approval from Fashion House) Jay Z and Beyoncé attend the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on June 20, 2023 in Paris, France. (Photo by Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
The mythical collaborative album was held back by Jay-Z himself.

One of the hip-hop urban legends is a major collaborative project between Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja Rule when the trio were all near their peak. After decades of speculation on the album and what prevented it from ever seeing the light of day. Now Irv Gotti, who has often been able to explain the facts behind various hip-hop stories is once again clarifying. During an episode of Drink Champs he explained that Jay was the one who kept things from moving forward.

He explained why doing the album didn't make much sense for him at the time. "Do I want to make a whole album with these n*ggas coming at me? And if I'm Jay-Z, there's a slight chance that, what is n*ggas gonna say I'm not the nicest n*gga?" Fans in the comments were surprised to hear about that concern coming from Hov. "Jay smoked them niggas on everything he on with them even both murdagrams ‼️" one of the top comments reads. "ay Z is and was a 10x better RAPPER than DMX and Ja Rule , they just had better energy if we being honest , as a lyricist jay wasn’t afraid of nothing," agrees another.

Jay-Z Held Back DMX Ja Rule Collab Album

Other fans in the comments just flat out didn't believe Irv Gotti. "ut Jay did Reservoir Dogs with a line up of killers !!! Naw Jay wasn’t scared of X or Ja, he just didn’t wanna do it … end of story," one comment suggests. "Maybe DMX I Doubt He cared about Ja Rule lol," another agrees.

Earlier this week Jay made a brand new Instagram account. He did so in order to promote a movie that he executive producer by sharing a video of the film's trailer. The movie is called The Book Of Clarence and drops early next year. What do you think of Jay-Z worrying about being out-rapped by DMX and Ja Rule? Let us know in the comment section below.

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About The Author
Lavender Alexandria is a music and culture journalist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s covered dozens of musical genres and styles from the most mainstream to the most experimental and underground on her blog and accompanying YouTube channel that looks at music, pop culture, and Billboard charts since 2017: Lav’s Music Corner. Lavender has produced editorial and listicle content both in written and video form over the past far years and has also interviewed up-and-coming artists like Censored Dialogue. Her experiences covering culture have taken her from Hyperpop parties in LA to underground rap shows in Atlanta, to DIY punk shows in Charlotte. Lavender has also written for iHeartRadio, covering some of the biggest artists in Hip Hop such as Ice Spice, Drake, Doja Cat and Cardi B. She also has bylines with ScreenRant and continues to write for Ringtone magazine. Lavender is a lifelong Charlotte Hornets fan and her favorite rap artists include Clipping, Little Simz, Earl Sweatshirt, and Kendrick Lamar.
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