Ja Rule and Ashanti had a reunion onstage during Lloyd’s show at Hammerstein Ballroom last month, and now the former Murder Inc. affiliates are sharing laughs on their first collaboration in nearly seven years.

Ashanti is set to appear on “LOL,” or “Laughing Out Loud” for the non-Internet savvy, which will be released on one of Rule’s two upcoming albums. “It’s a fun record,” he told staging-rapup.kinsta.cloud. “It’ll definitely be on one of the albums, either The Renaissance Project or P.ain I.s L.ove 2, but I’m not sure which one yet.”

Produced by Rule himself, the track flips Stevie Wonder’s 1980 reggae-soul single “Master Blaster (Jammin’),” albeit with the modern technological language the title implies. The song retains the laid-back, reggae-tinged vibe of the original, but sees the rapper pining for a lost love. “LOL. LMAO,” sings Ja. “But it ain’t funny how I don’t see you no more.”

“LOL” marks the first collaboration between Ja Rule and Ashanti since the latter’s 2004 album Concrete Rose. Their partnership yielded numerous hits in the early 2000s, including 2001’s “Always On Time,” 2003’s “Mesmerize,” and 2005’s “Wonderful,” all of which landed in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rule is scheduled to start serving an 18-month prison sentence on June 8, the day after P.ain I.s L.ove 2 drops. Immediately upon his release, he is planning to hit the road on his “40 Days/40 Nights Around the World” tour.

–Jason Newman

“LOL” (not featuring Ashanti)