Thirteen years after he broke onto the scene with his gruff, sing-song rap style on Jay-Z's 1998 hit 'Can I Get a...' and his own ubiquitous debut single 'Holla Holla' a year later, Ja Rule has finally apologized for making it "cool" for rappers to sing.
While his style may have paved the way for rival 50 Cent, who perfected the rap-singer chorus on his 2003 masterpiece 'Get Rich or Die Tryin',' Rule recently revealed to MTV that he's sorry for having lead the monotone singing charge before it was supplanted by T-Pain's equally questionable Auto-Tune takeover in 2005.
"I always admit it. I'm a shallow singer. I think that's what attracted people to what I was doing, because I made you feel like you too could do this," Ja Rule admitted. "I'm not blowing Luther Vandross notes over here! You could do what I'm doing."
The Queens MC went on to contend that his actual lack of ability opened the lane for the rest of hip-hop's questionable voices.
"I think that's what made it popular," he continued. "I think for the people, that's what made it popular, that they were able to sing along with it and they weren't intimidated by singing along to it because it was a guy that can't sing."
While most popular rappers today employ the sung hook that Rule made his signature on hits like 'I'm Real (Murder Remix)' with Jennifer Lopez, he said that he bears no ill-will towards artists like Kanye West, Drake and Diddy.
"Those are the biggest names in music," he explained, proudly. "Drake can sing, man."
"I'm sorry, by the way!" he laughed, ultimately revealing a sense of humor about his legacy in hip-hop, as he prepares to serve out a two-year prison sentence for attempted weapon possession in June. No hard feelings, pal.
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