Grab your trucker hat and charge up your Motorola Razr because we’re headed back to the early 2000s!
It was a simpler time, when most of us still believed that George W. Bush was the height of political idiocy and Tom Brady was a human being who would eventually retire and not a robot from the future who’s been reprogrammed by Bill Belichick to forget about John Connor and focus on racking up rings.
It was also a time when 50 Cent and Ja Rule made headlines as hip-hop A-listers locked in a bitter feud.
Yes, some of our younger readers may not believe it, but there was a time when 50 was famous for something other than picking fights with Wendy Williams, and Ja Rule didn’t spend all his time doing whatever it is Ja Rule does these days.
In the time when rappers needed more than a couple facial tattoos and some Xanax-glamorizing Instagram clips to become famous, 50 and Ja were two of the biggest names in hip hop.
And they were also two of
Like, on the music industry rivalry scale, these two weren’t quite and Biggie and Tupac levels, but they went far beyond Katy Perry v. Taylor Swift levels of mutual loathing.
50 is currently promoting the movie Den of Thieves, in which he co-stars with O’Shea Jackson.
During a recent radio interview, Jackson joked that as a youth, he was a fan of Ja’s … but that changed abruptly when he heard 50’s debut album.
Apparently, Ja spends his days waiting for news alerts about himself, because he responded immediately:
“Fun hip hop FACT: @50cent is P–Y…” Ja tweeted, showcasing the razor-sharp wit that made one of his era’s most forgettable rappers.
Many fans were quick to point out that 50 still has a career, whereas Ja likely longs for the three square meals and free utilities he enjoyed during his extended stay at Riker’s Island.
“Lol you sure you want to do this ? You remember what happened last time???” tweeted one observer, prompting Ja to respond:
“Yeah I do @50cent got beat up, stabbed and shot what do you remember???”
50 loves beef, but amazingly he didn’t take the bait.
That turned out to be the right move, as Ja was left to twist in wind, simultaneously talking trash in a public forum and scolding fans for being too interested in public trash talk:
“Some of you are waaay to invested in this corny 100-year-old beef lol… f-ckin weirdos!!! This shit is fun and games for me… IM RICH BITCH!!!” he tweeted, before confusingly adding:
“Oh and while I’m at it #denoftheives is TRASH… 34% rotten tomatoes save your money!!! Catch it on cable… lmao #Murderinctvseries”
Clearly, Ja is the pathetically petty one here, which is saying something because 50 feuds with just about everyone who crosses his paths.
Both of these walking throwbacks have chosen to continue engaging in battles, despite the fact that they no longer rap.
This is like the end of 8 Mile if instead of freestyling, a 40-something Eminem took the stage and began tweeting furiously.
Don’t get us wrong, it would still be amusing.
But guys, with no new records to sell, this bit can’t be very lucrative, right?
