What started the beef between 50 Cent and Ja Rule?

It seems like everyone knows that Ja Rule and 50 Cent have had their issues with one another. However, it’s not always entirely clear where it all started. Whether you’re an avid listener or you simply want to get into the hip hop history, we’ll start off in 1999.

1999 was the year Ja Rule was robbed at gunpoint in Queens, New York, by one of 50 Cent’s supposed affiliates. After this, they had a run-in at a club, at which Ja Rule was allegedly hostile, but Ja denies seeing the group there, leading to what was probably a simple misunderstanding.

Soon after this, 50 Cent released his diss track of Ja Rule, ‘Life’s On The Line’. However, it wasn’t until the next year, 2000, that things got a little physical. In Atlanta, GA, the pair were booked to perform at the same club, which ended in a physical altercation between the two.

But things weren’t done getting physical. Later that year, 50 Cent was stabbed. 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew ran into Murder Inc. at Hit Factory studios in New York City, where Ja was allegedly tipped off to their whereabouts, ending in a stabbing by rapper Black Child.

In 2002, it was alleged that 50 Cent had signed an order of protection against Ja Rule, which the rapper denied, but still got heat for the incident. It turns out that this was indeed true, but it didn’t have too big of an impact on his reputation. After this, their relationship essentially consisted of trading diss tracks back and forth for the next few years, public claims of copying style, and other petty drama as compared to the physical altercations of years prior. 

In 2013, Ja Rule was a guest on Hot 97, where he spoke to Angie Martinez and admitted that he felt like 50 Cent had won their battle. However, they’d later end up on the same flight, where things would take a turn for… the better? Ja Rule made this tweet regarding the events, “What are the chances me and 50 same flight same row no problems!!! #Grownmanshit”

However, it seems that the peace wouldn’t last long, as they went right back to hurling insults and performing diss tracks live in 2014. On the more serious side of things, Ja Rule claimed that 50 Cent ratted him out to the police in his memoir, Unruly: The Highs and Lows of Becoming a Man. Ja Rule claimed that 50 Cent tipped off police with information that led to a federal investigation into Murder Inc. 50 Cent denied this, but there’s no way to know for sure.

They continued to engage in a Twitter war, which included highlights like 50 Cent mocking Ja Rule‘s involvement in Fyre Festival, which is honestly pretty understandable. Additionally, 50 Cent supposedly bought 200 front row tickets to Ja Rule’s show in Vegas so they’d remain empty.

Although it seems like some of the recent drama is a bit petty, it’s wild to look back at the two-decade-long feud and see just how intense things were. Maybe one day the two will stop fighting, but until then, it looks like we still have a Twitter war to keep up with.