Ever since the early two-thousands, after boldly going up against the Shady/Aftermath/G-Unit empire, Ja Rule has been nursing a damaged reputation. Not just when the scars were about to fully heal, the Fyre Festival occurred. Like that, Ja was a laughing stock in the public eye, even if he was ultimately acquitted of any wrongdoing in Billy McFarland’s notorious blunder. For many, it didn’t matter that Ja had dropped hit after hit in his heydey, kicking off his run with Veni Vedi Vici and dominating the charts until 2002’s Pain Is Love. Memory has a funny way of shifting over time, and before long, Ja’s music was brushed aside in favor of the antics.

N.O.R.E Calls Ja Rule The Game's Most Misunderstood Rapper 10

Perhaps its time to re-evaluate the narrative. To unravel the riddle wrapped in the enigma that is Ja. Speaking exclusively with HNHH, legendary rapper and host of REVOLT’s Drink Champs N.O.R.E wasted little time in naming Ja Rule as the game’s most misunderstood rapper. “He’s a very funny guy,” said N.O.R.E, in our recent interview with the affable historian. “People just always give Ja Rule a hard time. That’s pretty much it. I think they think he takes himself too serious, and me knowing him personally, he doesn’t. At least on a Drink Champs platform, Ja Rule is misunderstood.”

Of course, he’s quick makes a key distinction. “I don’t know Fyre Festival Ja Rule,” he laughs. “I never met Fyre Festival Ja Rule. I know the other Ja Rule.” For more wisdom from Noreaga, be sure to catch the full interview right here. In the meantime, give an old Ja Rule album a spin. You never know – you might hear something you enjoy.