At this point, DJ Khaled has the power to go back in time and squash the beef between the Hatfield and McCoys.
Last night at Beyonce’s grand finale Formation World Tour in East Rutherford, N.J., DJ Khaled rounded up Queen Bey’s husband, Jay Z, Ruff Ryder figurehead DMX (who had just finished out the Bad Boy Reunion Tour himself) and multi-platinum rap star and 50 Cent nemesis, Ja Rule.
Longtime Hip Hop fans will recognize the significance of photo-op, for the NYC Hip Hop tandem was once known as the supergroup Murder Inc. shortly before Ja Rule and Irv Gotti leveraged the name into their own successful imprint.
In 1999 for the ninth issue of XXL magazine, Jigga, Ja and Dark Man X got the front (and back) cover story for the proposed supergroup, created a couple of songs but no album was ever materialized.
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The epic union happened backstage at Metlife Stadium where DJ Khaled and Mike Kyser, Atlantic Records President of Black Music, took plenty of flicks. There were also several Snapchat videos where the trio shared chummy moments about the 1999 “It’s Murda” record and X was also heard telling Jay Z, “You know, I still gotta get you on the pool table, man.”
So why did an inevitably lucrative opportunity like Murder Inc: The Group never happen? Fans long speculated there weren’t enough mics to go around as all three 90s-era rappers went on to have wildly successful careers, and according to Ja Rule, they were partially right.
Back in 2014, Ja Rule became the first and only member to come forward and offer up a formal explanation for the lack of productivity. While speaking to Rob Markman, who was with MTV at the time, he summarized his perspective on the “it’s not me, it’s them” tip.
“We tried to deliver that album,” Rule, born Jeffrey Atkins in Queens recalled. “It was a situation where egos all just played a part in its demise. 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.
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“We did a few records together and those records will always be classics to a lot of people in the history of Hip Hop,” he said. “I wish that album would’ve came to fruition, it would’ve been real dope,” he said. “I think there might be one—one or two joints that’s still out there that you haven’t heard.”
Nonetheless, the Murder Inc. alumni weren’t the only stars in the building last night. T.I., Young M.A, Remy Ma, DJ Mustard, Fetty Wap, August Alsina, The LOX and Mase were all special guests as the party got into “formation” one last time.
Check out the Murder Inc. reunion celebration in all its social media glory down below.
