JAY-Z, DMX and Ja Rule were supposed to form a supergroup in the late ’90s, but it never came to light, and Hov has now shared why he thinks it didn’t work out.
In the premiere episode of the new Murder Inc. BET documentary, label founder Irv Gotti recalled the time that Jay, X and Ja were working closely with each other to the point people in the industry referred to them as a supergroup.
Irv was instrumental in helping JAY-Z, DMX and Ja Rule but he saw something within all three of them that screamed supergroup. However, things didn’t go as planned as each rapper was much more focused on their solo careers, which Hov attributed to how competitive they were as well as each of them having a big ego.
“I think it was everyone’s ambition and everyone’s ego,” JAY-Z said. “It was just three guys, three independent labels, three Black men who are all fighting to be the best in the world.”
The three rappers were featured on various songs together, such as “Can I Get A…,” “Money, Cash, Hoes,” “Blackout” and more, and as hype around them grew so did the call for them to form a group.
Irv Gotti was planting the seeds of his Murder Inc label when he saw an opportunity to market and brand his new company through the formidable rap trio.
“The supergroup with Jay, X and Ja, I used it to push branding for Murder Inc. All I gotta do is put a hot track on, and they gon go at it,” Irv said. “If there’s a studio and the rappers is rapping, X is trying to kill you. Hov, you can’t tell Hov he ain’t the best. He thinks he’s fucking the illest ever, and he might be. Rule has a Napoleon complex. If you think for one second he’s bowing down to anybody, no.”
Some of the songs from those sessions would be “It’s Murda” off Ja’s debut album Venni Vetti Vecci, and “Murdagram” off the Streets Is Watching soundtrack.
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Hov added: “Me and X had like a thing. He was always super competitive with me. I was super competitive at that time as well. Ja was just happy to be in the room at the time he hadn’t become the Ja Rule that we all come to know and love.”
The documentary will also see Irv Gotti dive into the infamous 2003 FBI raid at the Murder Inc. offices in New York. Irv and his brother Christopher Lorenzo were accused of money laundering through alleged financial transactions associated with drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff.
During a conversation with HipHopDX, Irv revealed he felt shunned by the music industry after the incident.
“When the feds come after you — what’s the character on Snoopy?” Gotti asked. “He’s got a cloud that’s always raining on him. Oh, Pigpen. I was Pigpen. So it’s sunny outside, but it was raining. I would go in to have meetings with these top executives in entertainment, and I would have the best meeting. They would be like, ‘You’re really a genius. This was great.’
“I would leave they office and nothing would happen. So basically what I felt was happening is once I left the office, someone either called them or they Googled me, and they seen the bullshit with the feds, and someone said, ‘Don’t fuck with him.’ And no one fucked with me.”
Ja was on Money Cash Hoes, huh?
What universe was that remix in?
He wasn’t, Just Beanie Sigel,Memphis Bleek were on the extended version.
Naw it was crack and 50 Cent that did them in, not egos.
Nah it was your momma they passed on each other that fueled their disagreement.
Delusional much, unfortunately homie is telling the truth about this one though. That’s actually what happened. Love DMX to death but that was part of the issue.
Ok, I get it. My bad. But according to X’s entourage, he was heavy on drugs and women way before the release of his first album. It didn’t stop him from releasing five albums who reached the number 1 position in the charts and selling millions copies. I believe the reason the group didn’t work out was because of X’s competition with Hov and X’s issue with Ja copycatting his voice. I don’t think crack was the main problem here.
That was the dumbest reply I’ve ever heard. That doesn’t even make sense. At least what I said was actually true. X career took off but his behavior was just getting worse too. He was also heavily addicted to that wet too (weed laced with crack) during that time too. Eventually it turned into smoking full blown crack again and got out of control to a point where he couldn’t hide it anymore. Ja Rule (who honestly thought he was the second coming of 2pac) was faking the funk trying to be a clone version of DMX mixed with Lionel Ritchie got too arrogant and got his ass destroyed by 50 Cent, G-Unit,Dr Dre, and Eminem.
I think they meant they were just featured on different songs together in some capacity no necessarily on that particular song or all three at once but starting to work together because DMX isn’t on “Can I Get A”, they just worded it wrong
Its The Roc, Nickel Rocks, and The Leprechaun
Naw, more like The Money, The Man, and The Midget lol
you know hov didn’t have time to be around crazy crackheads like X taking everything too serious barking at walls and sht. hov trying to enjoy life. ja got tired of waiting around so he put on the pac bandana and did the ashanti records instead. they sold lots
JA RULE >>> 2PAC!!!!!!! #NOCAP
The Dog, The Homo and The Runt
The Dog, The Homo and the runt