Ja Rule Sounds Off on Drake and Other Singing Rappers
At the height of his reign, Ja Rule took the formula of a rapper singing his own hooks to the mainstream stratosphere. With MCs like Kanye West, Drake, and Diddy making hits with the signature style, Ja doesn’t hold any hard feelings.
“Those are the biggest names in music,” he told MTV News’ Sway Calloway during “RapFix Live.” “Drake can sing, man.”
He also explained that even though he was charting with smash singles including “I’m Real (Murder Remix)” with Jennifer Lopez and “Livin’ It Up” featuring Case, he didn’t consider himself the best singer.
“I always admit it. I’m a shallow singer. But I think that’s what attracted people to what I was doing, because I made you feel like you too could do this,” he explained. “I’m not blowing Luther Vandross notes over here! You could do what I’m doing.”
His pipes may not have been stellar, but it made it more relatable to fans. “I think that’s what made it pop music. I think for the people, that’s what made it popular, that they were able to sing along with it and they weren’t intimidated by singing along to it because it was a guy that can’t sing,” he continued.
Apologizing for the omnipresent style (“I’m sorry, by the way!” he laughed), Ja was in the building to promote his upcoming albums P.ain I.s L.ove 2 and The Renaissance Project before heading off to do a two-year bid for attempted weapon possession in June.
For the rest of Ja Rule’s interview, visit MTV RapFix.