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Fat Joe and Ja Rule took to the stage at the Madison Square Garden Theater and faced off in the last edition of VERZUZ. It was a solid New York affair, with several guests, an intermission and a lot of chatter. Check out the full playlist of songs they’ve performed below, on TIDAL.
Since almost the jump, the two MCs have traded beards between songs, although friends and collaborators don’t really have a beef between them. Joe teased Ja for his current relevance (“Where have you been for the past ten years?”) While Ja stood as if his short stint in the spotlight still eclipsed Joe’s multiple decades of success.
Fat Joe’s strength in battle clearly lay in his high-profile collaborations – he brought out Remy Ma (“All The Way Up”), Dre (of Cool & Dre) and Nelly, who inexplicably played “Hot in Here. “. Joe’s bragging extended to the artists he directed (DJ Khaled, Big Pun) and their wealth. And while Ja seemed to challenge Joe’s tangential connections to songs like “Still Not a Player” (Ja: “It’s not your record!” Joe: “I was the executive producer” Ja: “It doesn’t matter not! ”) he seemed to have no problem with the frequent use of the n-word by the white Latino MC. When Joe teased Ja for doing more singing than rap, Ja reveled in the recognition that he was ahead of his time (“I’m the singer rapper! I started this shit! spiced up by a singing rapper! ”). Joe made frequent references to Ja Rule’s disastrous Fyre Festival, poking fun at “Baloney sandwiches” from infamous reports on the festival’s catering.
The comments section was as lively as the crowds at the Garden, with appearances from Diddy, Khaled and many more. There had been rumors of a 50 Cent appearance – 50 and Ja had a documented long beef – but it never materialized. Murder Inc co-founder Irv Gotti felt compelled to respond to the specter of the Queens rapper regardless, saying, “You all talk about that 50’s shit. All right. He was beaten up, stabbed. Exploded. And chased us. That’s all I’m going to say. Your hero is not who you think he is. Period. And facts.
Each artist had chart-topping hits to hang on to, although they tended to feature high profile collaborators who would have been hard to compete with. Ja did his massive J Lo collaboration “I’m Real” without her, and Joe did the strip club anthem “Make it Rain” without Lil Wayne. But the women who were there – Remy Ma, Lil Mo, Vita and Ashanti – were vibrant, keeping the show from sinking under the weight of her two massive male egos. Ashanti caused a stir in particular, as a guest on both Ja Rule’s “Mesmerized” and Ja Rule’s “What’s Love”, prompting Ja to express remorse for giving Joe the chorus of the song. song: “Of all the hooks I’ve ever written, I wish I had kept that one,” he said. And before slipping into a rendition of his # 1 hit “Lean Back,” Joe stopped the show to offer Ashanti and Remy Hermes handbags on stage.
Despite the massive amounts of chatter, the mood at the end of the show was pleasant. Throughout the show Ja was giving Joe props on some of his greatest songs: “This is one of my favorite records! he said more than once. Joe insisted on saying that he chose Ja to fight on VERZUZ because everyone was afraid to go against Ja and all of his hit songs. “I want my brother to get the accessories he deserves,” he said. “I love Ja Rule, with all my heart.” And when they released Jadakiss for their “New York” collaboration, it became clear that everyone on stage was on the same team. “I love this nigga like my brother,” Ja said.
Last month, two quintessential New York crews, the LOX and the Dipset, faced off at MSG. In June, Eve and Trina had a more user-friendly remote session, with Trina in Miami and Eve in London.
Read about VERZUZ in Pitchfork’s “How Music Persisted During the Pandemic” and see “Finding Answers to the Fyre Festival Viral Catastrophe” from the field.
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