Ja Rule.Photo: Paras Griffin/Getty
Ja Rulewas left out of a list of the 50 greatest rappers of all time — one he feels he deserves to be a part of.
The hitmaker, 46, revealed to his Twitter followers on Thursday that he felt he was snubbed after not being ranked in the final count of Billboard and VIBE’sTop 50 Greatest Rappers of All Timelist this week. The list, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, took “deliberation and deep discussion” to come to a final 50, per the publications.
“There ain’t 50 rappers dead, alive or waiting to be born better than me… #ICONN #Vibes,” Ja Rule wrote. “@billboard congrats to everyone on the list well deserved but check my resume… #ICONN #Vibes.”
Responding to tweets the next day that read “Ja Rule says there’s no rappers ‘dead’ or ‘alive’ better than him,” Ja clarified his stance once more and claimed that headlines twisted his words, as it was “NOT WTF I SAID.”
“Stop wit the click bait goofy s—… I SAID THERE’S NOT 50 Rappers ahead of me and I STAND on that,” he wrote.
Ja’s résumé-checking request comes as both publications ranked who they felt were the greatest rappers — taking into account each artist’s “body of work,” “cultural impact,” “longevity,” “lyrics,” and “flow.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Maybe there are other rappers who could claim to match Jay at his peak,” the article reads. “But there are simply none who can match his entire career — his longevity, the breadth of his accomplishments, and what he’s meant to hip-hop from a musical, cultural and financial standpoint for the last three decades.”
Ja Rule.Bennett Raglin/BET/Getty
Similarly,Ice Cubehas since said he was unimpressed with the list — as was ranked at No. 18. Catching up withTMZ, the N.W.A legend claimedBillboard"ain’t Hip Hop so their opinion don’t matter." The list was published alongside VIBE — which has covered hip-hop and R&B artists since the early ’90s.
“It’s an irrelevant list,” he said. “It’s like assh—-: everybody got one and they all stink.”
Still, three rappers featured on the list put on an all-star performance to close out the 2023Grammy Awardslast weekend, as JAY-Z, Lil Wayne, and Rick Ross joined DJ Khaled for a performance of his Grammy-nominated hit “God Did.” John Legend and Fridayy also joined the lyricists, who sat at a table outside of the Crypto.com Arena for the performance.
“It breaks my heart,” Khaled said as the performance — and the awards show — ended. “They ain’t believe in us. God did. So we did an eight-minute show on the Grammys. Salute to the Academy.”
Khaled previously talked about his admiration for Jay in an Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, and called the rapper “one of my idols.”
“I’ve always been a fan, not just from his music, just from his moves. From business to being a father, and to be on top,” Khaled said. “For him to bless my album the way he blessed my album, it’s like, not only does he love me, it feels so great for him to be so in love with the music in this day and time. He’s taught me so much, he’s my brother, he’s my friend.”
source: people.com
