Ja Rule Sounds Off on 50 Cent Mocking Irv Gotti's Death: 'I Was Ready to Go Nuclear'

Ja Rule insists he doesn’t take his beef with 50 Cent too seriously. But he was ready “to go nuclear” when the G-Unit boss mocked Irv Gotti’s recent death.

The “Livin It Up” rapper addressed the controversy during a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, just two months after Gotti died from a hemorrhagic stroke.

Shortly after the tragic news was announced, Fif took to Instagram to take another jab at his longtime foe, posting a photo of him smoking next to an R.I.P. tombstone. 

“I’m smoking on dat Gotti pack, nah God bless him [white dove emoji] LOL,” 50 captioned the carousel, which included a photo of the late Gotti.

“I see some of the things that [50 Cent] gets involved in, feuds. ‘Grow up, my n***a.’ That’s what I be thinking to myself,” Ja told the hosts before addressing 50’s post about Gotti’s death.

“It’s goofy shit," Ja said. "'Cause I was hot. I was ready to go nuclear and shit ... Preme said, ‘You know, Rule? Here’s what you gotta understand about who we are and what we are: We are the masters of self-defense.’ I said, ‘I love that,’ because I don’t want to start or make trouble with people, but if we gotta get into it … I’ll fuckin’ end it.”

He continued: “That’s who we are as men. Here to protect our family, protect our home, defend our honor, our names, our reptuation. I’m not here to be a bully and bother people. That’s not what I’m here to do but I am a master of self-defense.”

Ja, who signed to Gotti’s Murder Inc. label in the 1990s, claimed he rarely mentions 50 Cent in public but will occasionally respond to Fif’s “troll” behavior.  

“He keeps it going,” Ja said about his and 50’s beef. “I’ll go to the circus once in a while. I really like to stay clear of that shit …. I like to have fun sometimes. I poke jabs at him, too, but that’s all that really is. To me, it’s silly. We’re both successful Black men and I think the focus should be on continuing to make sure that we pay it forward.”

Check out Ja’s full interview above.