Fans Respond to Fat Joe Declaring Ja Rule Was the Drake of His Era

Fat Joe was on Instagram Live with Ja Rule following their Verzuz battle earlier this week, and while giving Ja his flowers, Joe made the comparison of Rule being the Drake of his era. As evidence, he cited their hitmaking abilities and melodic rap styles.

“With no disrespect to your hip-hop roots, you’re a pop star,” Joe told Ja Rule during the Live. “I always tell everybody you was the Drake before the Drake. You had hit after hit after hit after hit.”

Joe continued to make the comparison by talking about how many hits Ja Rule had in the early 2000s, and likened it to the chart supremacy Drake has had over the last decade.

“He’s the GOAT, we not going there,” Joe said. “But what I’m saying is for the youth who’s tuned in, they don’t realize that this guy Ja Rule had a run like Drake for years. Just hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.”

Some fans in the Shade Room post’s comments took issue with this claim, saying instead that Ja Rule shouldn’t be looked at as the “Drake of his era,” but rather a legend in his own regard, especially considering he predates Drake:

Others—including over on Twitter—felt differently, saying Ja was never on Drizzy’s level, even in his prime.

Throughout his career, Ja Rule notched three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 records. Drake has just gained his 10th with his song “Way 2 Sexy” featuring Future and Young Thug off his latest album Certified Lover Boy. While their chart success may not be the same, Ja Rule’s patented style of melodic rapping, which he arguably pioneered along with Nelly, is something that has now been fully embraced in the mainstream rap canon.