Hov, X and Ja were supposed to form a supergroup in the late ’90s, but it never came to light, and Hov has now shared why he thinks it didn’t work out.
JAY-Z Says Ambition and Ego Failed Murder Inc. Supergroup
In the premiere episode of the new Murder Inc doc ━ Jay-Z discusses failed Supergroup with Ja Rule & DMX.
JAY-Z, the late DMX and Ja Rule are all individual Hip Hop legends in their own right. In 1995, Irv Gotti convinced them to form the supergroup Murder Inc., which would later become the name of his label. Their run was incredibly brief, the trio appeared on several tracks together but never released an album.
Ja Rule, JAY-Z and DMX cemented their names in New York rap’s scene with their thriving solo careers, but the trio also had the potential to garner success as a supergroup. In The Murder Inc Story and BET documentary, Shawn “JAY-Z” Carter discussed Irv Gotti’s attempts at creating the group and the reasons it all fell through before they were able to complete an entire project.
“I think it was everyone’s ambition and everyone’s ego,” JAY-Z said. “It was just three guys, three independent labels, three Black men who are all fighting to be the best in the world.”
Irv Gotti made an indelible mark on the sound of hip hop and R&B of the 90s and 2000s. As an A&R man, producer and label head, he introduced the world to JAY-Z, DMX, Ja Rule and Ashanti, who all went on to make their own mark on the culture.
“The supergroup with Jay, X and Ja, I used it to push branding for Murder Inc. All I gotta do is put a hot track on, and they gon go at it,” Irv said. “If there’s a studio and the rappers is rapping, X is trying to kill you. Hov, you can’t tell Hov he ain’t the best. He thinks he’s fucking the illest ever, and he might be. Rule has a Napoleon complex. If you think for one second he’s bowing down to anybody, no.”