The chart-topping rapper out of Queens was one of the faces of the label, though he wasn\u2019t technically on the roster.<\/p>\n
\n Ja Rule attends Swings ‘N’ Swigs & The Happier Hour at the Puttery on April 07, 2026 in New York City.
\n Photo by Joy Malone\/Getty Images.\n <\/p>\n
Ja Rule<\/a> became one of the faces of the Murder, Inc. label in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The chart-topping rapper out of Queens scored countless hits for Murder, Inc. and forged an unbreakable bond with Inc founder, the late Irv Gotti<\/a>. But during a recent appearance<\/a> on Earn Your Leisure, Ja reminded everyone that he was never technically signed to the label \u2014 although he was clearly instrumental in its rise.\u00a0<\/p>\n “I took [Irv] from $5,000 to $50,000 to $100,000 in six months,\u201d Ja said. \u201cAnd then I took him to $100,000 to $250,000 in another year \u2026 pushing the price up. Irv wasn’t \u2014 that was me. That was my job.\u201d<\/p>\n Tommy Mottola of Sony Music approached Irv to create what would become Murder Inc. Irv\u2019s brother, Chris Gotti, was listed as a co-founder, but he shared that the label was born out of Irv\u2019s production and management successes.\u00a0<\/p>\n “It wasn’t like he went to Sony and said, ‘Hey, give me a record deal,'” Chris explained in an interview with Angie Martinez.<\/p>\n Murder Inc. would go on to sign artists such as Ashanti, Lloyd, Charli Baltimore, and more. Ja Rule, however, wasn’t signed to Murder Inc. He was signed to Def Jam.<\/p>\n \u201cI was Murder Inc., you know what I mean?\u201d Ja Rule said. \u201cI didn\u2019t never really feel like a Def Jam artist, per se, because I did everything Murder Inc., you know what I mean? So that\u2019s the way we built it, and that\u2019s the way we moved it. And then it felt right because that\u2019s how D (DMX) was moving with Ruff Ryders and that\u2019s how Jay-Z was moving with Roc-A-Fella.\u201d<\/p>\n