Cuttin' taxes for strippers and thugs.
It's always good to be working.
Galley Molina's a great inspiration and role model for a lot of young kids out there.
I got started in 1995, working in a group called The Cash Money Click.
Whores, instead of claiming what's rightfully yours. Pierced a hole in my heart from all the pain you caused, with no direction you left your first born lost.
My role now is as an artist and as a mogul to inspire and give others opportunities.
When you go to jail, there's so much simple stuff missing. You just want some good toilet paper or a real toothbrush, a real blanket and a real bed to lay in.
Being incarcerated is truly very serious, and it has changed my life to such an extent that breaking the cycle has become my sole focus. Jail is definitely not cool. Education is.
There's always something going on on movie sets. Even just from, you know, maybe you come in tired some days and you're not in your best mood. It's different when you're shooting movies because you're on a schedule and you gotta come with your A-game every day.
That's the unwritten rule in hip-hop. If I get on a record with you, I want to smash you. That's it. Every MC knows that. If I'm on a track with you, I want to be the best on the track. That's just how it is in hip-hop.
I knew I wanted to be successful in some form or fashion. My first dreams and aspirations of being successful was probably that I wanted to be a successful drug dealer. I wanted to be Nino Brown. That was my first dream.
Film and TV and stuff like that was something that I wanted to do when I was really, really little; like, I remember I used to do these plays with my cousins. We used to do Michael Jackson performances, and I would be Michael.
I would love to do something like 'Beverly Hills Cop'. I'd get to be funny and cool and heroic all in the same breath.
People think being famous is so glamorous, but half the time you're in a strange hotel room living out of a suitcase.
You know, whenever you're shooting a film there's different obstacles and challenges, whether it be from the makeup artist getting fired that you liked or whatever - the one that did the makeup the way you wanted. There's always stuff that changed, like the DP leaving the set, and there's a new guy in there, and the way he does lighting isn't the same as the last guy.
I've signed a few sneakers in my day.
Prison has humbled me in a lot of ways, because when you go to prison, I became 11 R 2024 you know, I wasn't Ja Rule the superstar. I wasn't any of that. I was just a regular inmate.
As far as rap goes, I grew up in Hollis, Queens, so early influences were people like Run DMC and LL Cool J.
A lot of people say I tried to emulate Tupac, but when I look back at my career, we're very different artists. I took pages out of Pac's book, of course, and lots of other rappers - Biggie, Nas - of course you take pages out of those books, but you eventually make it your own thing. And I think I did a good job of that.
I've done a lot of films that all have been pretty edgy.
I wanted to go into prison and come out a better person - mentally, physically. So, I read a lot of books, got my GED while I was in there, and worked out every day. Strong body, strong mind.
