Suge Knight Had Plans For Ja Rule Album On Death Row Records
Reggie Wright Jr. reveals plans of a Ja Rule album via Death Row records approved by Suge Knight back in the early 2000s.
The connection between Suge Knight and Ja Rule first started when Irv Gotti of Murder Inc. reached out to Knight about a Tupac sample. Ja Rule, a fan of Tupac, wanted to sample the classic ‘Pain’ song which was featured on the ‘Above The Rim’ soundtrack.
Suge Knight gave the blessing for the Tupac sample and quickly formed a bond with Irv Gotti. “Those ni**as hid it off real tough,” Reggie said on Bomb1st. “That’s when Suge said, ‘Yeah, I’ll clear the song for you.'” Ja Rule would go on to release ‘So Much Pain’ in 2001 on his third studio album ‘Pain Is Love.’
From there on, Suge and Irv Gotti remained in contact until their relationship and plans came to an end because of legal issues they were facing individually. One of those plans was for Suge Knight to executive produce a Ja Rule album released on Death Row records. In return, Irv Gotti would work with Crooked I on his studio album.
Apparently, Suge Knight was a fan of Ja Rule. Ja and Knight both met at Enterprise Studios in Los Angeles. It was there that Suge Knight apparently made the comparison to Tupac. Which then according to Ja Rule resulted in Knight becoming emotional. “It was an emotional moment for Suge because I think he’s seen qualities in me that I guess he’s seen in Pac,” Ja Rule explained to TooFab.com back in 2019.
“And then actually meeting me we had I guess similar energy to him because he asked me a question. When I answered he said, ‘Yo that’s exactly what Pac said.’ And he got real emotional. This is real ishh.” This particular meeting was first discussed by Irv Gotti when he was interviews by ValdTV. Gotti would go on to say that Suge Knight “broke down with real tears” when meeting Ja Rule for the first time.
Part of the agreement between Suge Knight and Irv Gotti to swap artists temporarily did happen as Crooked I was featured on Ashanti‘s ‘Baby’ remix in 2004. On the other hand, Ja Rule working with Death Row records never came to light.
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