It's not a Monday in the hip-hop world without 50 Cent starting some shit, and this week, his preferred target for trolling is none other than his longtime rival Ja Rule. 50 reposted a now-viral gyro commercial with the rapper Ja Rule hyping a Greek deli in Los Angeles, his caption dripping in his classic brand of mockery: "You see what happens when you f** with me. Selling gyros. LMAO… this ain't it."
The video in question is Ja Rule's wildly earnest, cut-rate ad for Papa Cristo's, in which he rhapsodizes about Mediterranean platters with the zeal that would make a used car salesman blush. It's cheesy, ridiculous, and, as 50 would have it, hilarious fodder for their seemingly unending beef.
Many fans don't know or might have forgotten that this isn't the 50's first time throwing this spec gyro back in Ja's mug. He initially shared the same clip in June 2020, promising another zinger of a caption: "This what happens … I'll have you and your whole label selling gyros." That's classic old 50.
In early 2020, Ja Rule confronted the ribbing directly, stating the commercial was much more than it seemed, not a flailing plug. It was part of a reality TV show, "Celebrity Show-Off," in which celebrities competed to generate the most compelling content in aid of something. Ja's idea? Create an absurdly over-the-top commercial that would surely generate buzz, and that's what it did.
"I had this idea to do this cheesy ass, like '80s,' 90s-style commercial," Ja told Page Six. "People are going to hate on it, and they're going to clown me, and it's going to go viral, and of course it did." Mission accomplished.
But beyond the laughs, the parody was also put to work. The campaign was intended to support and promote Papa Cristo's during the COVID-19 shutdowns and help raise funds to support No Kid Hungry, a charity that fights child hunger. So, where 50 saw gyros, Ja saw a chance to do some good.
Last month, Ja Rule responded online, calling 50 "boo boo the fool" and making fun of everything from his liquor brand to his TV shows. He went so far as to dust off old charges about his work with the feds and insinuated he might spill receipts a salvo by rap beef standards.
As for the gyro jab, it disappeared from 50 Cent's Instagram soon after it was posted. There is no apology, no follow-up, and it just went away. This is classic hit-and-run trolling. Either way, it's one more spicy chapter in one of hip-hop's longest-running beefs. But beneath the memes and the meat gamboling, Ja Rule's gyro gig may very well be the rare instance of a clapback with a conscience.
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