Eminem and 50 Cent Attack Ja Rule on Tupac's "Hail Mary"

In spring 2003, Tupac became a weapon in someone else’s dispute. On Thursday night, April 10, DJ Kay Slay played a new freestyle by Eminem and 50 Cent on his radio show in New York. The beat came from Tupac’s “Hail Mary”, and the target was Ja Rule with his label Murder Inc. MTV News reported on it on April 11.

In Tupac’s Tone of Voice

Eminem did not just rap over Tupac’s beat, he also adopted his delivery from the original. In one line, he mocked that Ja Rule was being quoted in the magazine The Source while stealing Tupac’s style as if he had invented it himself. In the chorus, he claimed that if Tupac were still alive, he would never stand with Ja Rule. 50 Cent also borrowed lines and cadence from “Hail Mary” and “Against All Odds.” At that time, he himself had a song out with Tupac titled “The Realest Killas.”

A Mixtape as a Battleground

The full version was scheduled to appear the following Monday on the mixtape Invasion Part II: Conspiracy Theory, compiled by Eminem’s DJ Green Lantern. Further attacks were announced. A few months later, Eminem began building music with Tupac’s voice himself: in September, “Runnin’ (Dying to Live)” became known.