Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Yesterday’s price is not today’s price… for
Ja Rule and
Ashanti.
Heading into Tuesday’s (Sep.14) Verzuz event, Fat Joe had all the momentum on his side thanks to his brilliant
post-Verzuz analysis of
Jadakiss dissection of Dipset and fans pretty believing he was going to give Ja Rule the business. But, when it comes to these now-massive spectacles, you have to wait and see how it goes down because usually, predictions don’t pan out, and Fat Joe vs. Ja Rule proved that.
Jeffrey Atkins was prepared and used the one aspect of his rap career that many of his peers made fun of, his rap-singing, and used it brilliantly to his advantage. Fat Joe thought he could somehow recreate the same formula Jadakiss did by trying to be as Hip-Hop as possible by doing some deep cuts that clearly a lot of people in MSG’s Hulu Theater were not at all familiar with. Ja Rule, on the other hand, had the venue in his pocket, and that was made clear when you could hear the crowd singing every one of his rap-sung hits word for word. Mind you. He owned the night early without even using any of his Ashanti-assisted records at the show’s beginning.
Of course, some special guests hit the Verzuz stage as well. Fat Joe wasted no time bringing Remy Ma to the stage, who assisted the Terror Squad general on a few tracks.
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
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But like Jadakiss said during his legendary Verzuz, “it’s good, but it’s not enough.” Ja Rule countered by bringing out his Murder Inc. label mate Vita and Lil Mo to perform his classic hit records “Down 4 U” and “Where Would I Be.”
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
That was only the first half of the show before Fat Joe revealed he needed to head to the back for an outfit change, much to the dismay of Ja Rule, who stayed in the same fit. Joe’s different drip didn’t change the energy of the Verzuz cause R U L E continued his relentless assault on Joe Crack, even while performing his weaker records.
But Ja Rule was saving his trump card for last. After Fat Joe brought out Nelly to help him perform his record “Get It Poppin’” and allowing the St. Louis Hip-Hop star to perform his smash hit “Hot In Herre,” Ja Rule masterfully countered with his ace Ashanti, who also happens to be Nelly’s ex-girlfriend and it was pretty much game over. To show there was no bad blood between them, the music stars even shared a hug.
https://twitter.com/katfrancoislcsw/status/1437998492153262083?s=20
After Ashanti and Ja Rule rocked the venue with their timeless records “Always on Time” and “Mesmerize,” Ashanti teamed up with Joe to perform “What’s Luv?” giving him his biggest crowd reaction of the night. Twitter immediately began recognizing Ja Rule easily snatched this Verzuz from Fat Joe, but Ashanti was truly the MVP of the night.
The two artists eventually came together to close out the show with Ja Rule’s opus to the city he loves, “New York,” featuring Fat Joe. Verzuz legend Jadakiss returned to the crime scene where he destroyed Dipset all by himself to belt out the lyrics that had the Hulu Theater on tilt and had Fat Joe amazed.
It was another successful night for Swizz Beatz and Timbaland that saw Ja Rule get the recognition many refuse to give still to this day. It even sparked more talk of a potential Verzuz matchup featuring super producers
Jermaine Dupri and Diddy.
We are intrigued to see how Fat Joe will recap him getting cleaned up by Ja Rule.
You can peep all the reactions from the night in the gallery below.
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Photos: Johnny Nunez / Getty
