While there has been a lot of love lately for Murder Inc. thanks to recent Verzuz performances, concerts or interviews, label heads Ja Rule and Irv Gotti want people to know that hasn't always been the case.
Irv and Ja sat down with Billboard for the 2002 week to recap their chart dominance in the early 2000s. They believe there has been some revisionist history when it comes to Murder Inc.'s epic run that provided the soundtrack for a lot of Millennials' formative years.
“We were talking earlier about how I do shows now and people don’t remember the time and songs they were hating on, like ‘Wonderful’ and ‘Mesmerize,'” Ja explained. “‘Mesmerize’ was a big record, but n-ggas were hating on me. You would never know that.”
Gotti said that many Murder Inc. fans today are far more proud of their fandom than in the early 2000s when the crew was the target of jokes and involved in legal issues with 50 Cent.
“You know what’s funny,” Gotti said. “A lot of you Murder Inc. fans — those appreciative of our music — are coming out of the woodworks now. It’s cool now to love Murder Inc.”
Fans of Murder Inc. will be able to relive the label's scorching run at the turn of the century during the MURDER INC. documentary premiering this summer on BET.
The five-part documentary features contributions from all of the key contributors to Murder Inc's legacy outside of Ashanti, who declined to participate.