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How Ja Rule Blew A HUGE Fast & Furious Opportunity
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Mar 1, 2024
#money #fastandfurious #jarule #blackexcellence Do you remember that Ja Rule was in the very first Fast and Furious movie? It was a small role but a huge opportunity to appear in the rest of the series. But why did Ja never make another appearance in the franchise? How did he blow this huge opportunity? Fyre Fest Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZ0KNVU2fV0 Check out the books we love and recommend in our Black Excellence Book Club: https://www.blackexcellence.com/store/ Some links are affiliate links, which means we earn a very tiny commission if you make a purchase. __________________________________________________________ All content provided by Black Excellence Media, LLC is for entertainment purposes only. None of the information or advice provided is to replace professional advice.
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Today we're going to talk about one of Jarl Ruhul's horrible business moves
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In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jha Ruhl was on top of the world, scoring hit after hit on the chart
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His 1999 debut album sold 3.6 million copies, followed by a 2000 sophomore album that sold 7.4 million
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But he wasn't done yet. His 2001 album, Pain and Love, sold 9.6 million copies
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In the midst of all this success, Jahn made an appearance in the first installment of what was considered
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at the time to be a B-rated car racing movie by the title of Fast and Furious
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The film had a budget of 38 million but went on to gross $206 million worldwide
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In the last 20 plus years, there have been 11 Fast and Furious movies in total
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That's right, 11 Fast and Furious movies, grossing over $7 billion worldwide
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The franchise has been a steady paycheck for all the actors involved
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J'Rule was reportedly paid only $15,000 to play the character Edwin in the first Fast and Furious
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But there were bigger plans for the character in the sequel, Too Fast, Too Furious
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Jarl Rew's Edwin was set to return in a much bigger role and a bigger payday for the rapper
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But J'all would not appear in the sequel or any other Fast and Furious movies
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So what happened exactly and how did Jarl rule miss out on an opportunity that would have made him millions and millions over the years
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One minute you're on top of the world. The next, it's all different
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Jarl Rule, born Jeffrey Bruce Atkins, was Murder Inc. Records first artist with his 1999 debut album Vinny Vedivici, which had both critical and commercial success
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His next two albums became his best-selling albums, selling over 15 million combined units
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In just a few years, Murder Inc. records quickly established themselves as one of the industry's top record companies
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They also added other artists like the beautiful Ashanti and kept turning out hits
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But things fell apart at the record company maybe just as quickly as they were climbing to the top
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First there was that iconic beef between Jarl Rule and 50 Cent. And if anyone knows, and I mean anyone like Diddy knows, you probably don't want beef with 50 Cent
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50 Cent was going after not just Jarl Rule, but Murder Inc. And pretty much everyone else in New York too We is in my office me and rule right In the office and Flex was about to play in the club right So Fleck plays in the club
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That record was so dope. I looked at Rule. Like, I looked at Rule
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Like, I looked at the rule. You have a major problem. Did you really say that? Absolutely
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He was a part of the juggernauts at that moment. M&M, Drey
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They were very, very big. and what they were doing as well
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So as we were big over on our side, they were also big on our side, on their side
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And as everything started to crumble for us as far as we didn't have a label as a home anymore
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You understand? There was a lot of things that were falling apart for us
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It was easy for him to get people to turn on. Bulldoze
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Right. And beefing with 50 cent was not the only problem murder ink had
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On January 3rd, 2003, Murder Inc. offices were raided by six federal agencies in search of evidence that Irv Gotti, the president of Murder Inc., was using the label to launder drug money
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And then the legal troubles came for jaw rule. In 2007, he was arrested and charged with criminal possession of a weapon after a semi-automatic handgun was found in a car he was linked to
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He was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty. And that's not all
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The rapper received an additional 28-month prison sentence for tax evasion in July 2011 for failing to pay taxes on more than 3 million in earnings between 2004 to 2006
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And in recent years, Jaw faced public and legal scrutiny for his involvement in the now infamous Fire Festival
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Has anyone else seen that documentary? Maybe we'll leave a link below. That thing was crazy. What they tried to pull off
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And did anyone else notice that J'all Rule was there? in the beginning of the whole documentary
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but then I sensed he knew something was going wrong and just disappeared from the whole second half of the documentary
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It's on Netflix. I encourage you guys to go check it out. Attendees of the disastrous music festival
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Sue Jarl Ruhu and others involved in the festival. He faced a $100 million class action lawsuit
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but he was eventually cleared of all wrongdoings. But his co-founder and the mastermind behind the fire festival
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Billy McFarlane was found guilty on wire fraud in 2018 and was sentenced to six years in prison and a million fine Even though Jarl Rule was legally cleared from any wrongdoing the whole Fire Festival fiasco
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was horrible press for the rapper. So, it's fair to say things have been rough for Jarl Ruel for a while now
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But, you know one thing that would have made things a lot better for the rapper, at least as far
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as his career goes, is being part of a successful movie franchise
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And he had the opportunity when he signed on to play Edwin, in the first Fast and Furious movie
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It was a small role with a small pay. But for the sequel, Too Fast, Too Furious
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the character Edwin had a much bigger role and a pay upgrade for the actor
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The late director, John Singleton, was set to direct Too Fast, Too Furious
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The second appearance would have made Jha a lot more money than the first movie
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Singleton reached out to Jarl Rule to offer him the role again. Now here's where there are two separate accounts
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of what happened that led to Jarl Rule never appearing in Too Fast, Too Furious
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or any other Fast and Furious movies. According to John Singleton, Jail Rule was offered $500,000 to play Edwin
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but he turned it down because, as Singleton put it, Jha got too big for himself
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Singleton went on to explain in an interview with Grant Lynn that Jarl Rule would not return
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any of his phone calls and dismiss the director when he met up with Jha in person
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That's when Singleton made a call to rapper Ludacris and offered him to play a different role
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by the name of Tedge. And that was going to replace Edwin
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Ludacris enthusiastically accepted the offer, and the rest is fast and furious history
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I was on tour with Eminem at the time, and I got a call from John Singleton
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He had hit my agent, and then they put me on the phone with him, and he said he wanted me to try out for Too Fast, Too Furious
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Like, he's sending me the dialogue and the sides that I have to perform in front of
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and he's like, I really need this within this certain amount of time, so it was a rush
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I'm about to go on stage on the M&M tour, in like 40 minutes
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So I'm going through these lines. We go get a camera. I'm kind of studying the stuff
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Put myself on camera and do the lines. Next day I get the call that I got the part
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That all happened within 24 hours. The craziest shit that ever happened in my life
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Later on to find out at Jarl Ruh was the one that was supposed to have the role
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and something worked out where he wasn't able to make it happen
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And I was the next person in line. But according to Jarl Rul what happened was not an ego trip Harper has said he turned down returning to Too Fast too furious because he was going to go on tour and that would make him a lot more money
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So it was a simple business move. I really do not understand how Jarl Rule did not see how in the first movie he made $15,000 to play that rule
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In the second movie, after everything that it made, you're offered $500,000
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What were you going to be offered on the third movie? Two million dollars? I don't know how you turn that down
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Well, anyway, Ludacris who ended up replacing him has gone on to appear in seven Fast and Furious movies
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Luda was paid $250,000 to appear in Too Fast, Too Furious, but now commands $5 to $8 million
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for every Fast and Furious movie he acts in. Hindsight is a peep
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There is no doubt the decision to appear in Too Fast Too Furious has contributed greatly to Ludacris's
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current estimated net worth of $30 million. Jaws' current net worth is estimated to be around $4 million, and if you listen to 50
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it's zero. We're not going to listen to 50 cents. So guys, what's the lesson here
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If you believe John Singleton's story, the lesson is to not get too big-headed and believe
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you're too good to take on a role that can help your career even if you're turning out
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hit after hit. Because, as we all know, just because you're popular today, it doesn't mean
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you'll be just as hot tomorrow, especially in the freaking music industry
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If you believe Jarl Rule's version of the story, it's easy to understand why he would think
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a $500,000 payday is too small compared to the millions he saw in his future with a hyped
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up tour coming up. But either way, examine opportunities carefully, and even if the payday is small now, if it has the
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potential to lead to something bigger in the future, jump on it today. Think long term
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and I was the next person in line. So when you hear people say sloppy seconds
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sometimes it could be a life-changing experience. I don't look at it as a bad term
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especially sitting here in front of you right now. Shit, I'll take sloppy seconds 80 day
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if it means I'm gonna be in seven fast and furious movies. God damn right
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So let me know what you think of Jarl Rule's lost opportunity
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and whose side of the story do you believe. That's all we have for you today
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See you next time in another episode of Money Talks
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