Katherine: We’re at a carnival, so most people are either in casual clothes or literally clowns, but then there’s this lady: Katherine: Most of this video is Ja Rule taking his image and making the dorkiest fun of it, and it’s great.Ĭrystal: I mean he is wearing the keys to her heart?! Also the fact that the second shot was taken throwing backwards like a child, and the third shot was a kick:Ĭrystal: I don’t think we’re talking enough about how Ja Rule is a national treasure, honestly. Ashanti shows her appreciation by leaving it out of half the shots.Ĭrystal: I’m gonna be honest Ja’s form is awful, so it’d honestly be a miracle if he made one of those shots let alone three. Ja wins Ashanti the large stuffed bear pictured above. And by “now” I mean “as of 2012,” and I’m sure that now-now they have Instagram or Vine booths, and also I am a dinosaur mummy. Katherine: Real-life carnivals have Facebook photobooths now. I call bullshit on this video already: Ja immediately goes back to his normal garb while Ashanti is stuck in high heels in grass all day at this carnival. Ashanti needs no encouragement.Ĭrystal: Ja spots her, does the Birdman hand rub, and takes off his sweater. Katherine: Straight out of the “You’re the One That I Want” video: Marty, the true heroine of Grease, tells Sandy to flirt with him.
Ashanti pretends to smoke a cigarette and coughs. #factchecking #journalism #ethicsĬrystal: We zoom into a carnival, where Ja Rule is tugging on that sweater uncomfortably. But more importantly, the board doesn’t seem to be actually in use. Or basically anywhere, if you count the 50 points for a bingo. You could theoretically do it by starting right next to the triple word score so O counts for two points (22x3) then adding the points from BE (+3). Though it’s in both official dictionaries (TWL and SOWPODS), there is no place on a Scrabble board to turn that into 23 points with a triple letter square and get the triple word bonus that would make this score possible. Katherine: Speaking of #onbrand, before we start I want to highlight this piece of Scrabble dialogue, courtesy of Ashanti’s girlfriends: “Fellatio! Off the row. Asaph used to be a massive musical theatre nerd is very #onbrand, to be honest. Literally every afternoon.Ĭrystal: The fact that Katherine St. Katherine: FUN FACT: There was a year or so where my sister and I would watch Grease every day. We open up on Ja’s crew planning a protest, and Ja shows up looking like his interpretation of “leave the street life behind”:Ĭrystal: Cut to Ashanti, who shows up looking like her interpretation of being “more street”:Ĭrystal: YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT, Y’ALL: THIS IS GREASE-THEMED. High School.”Ĭrystal: The label has since been rebranded back to Murder Inc, and as far as I can tell, Ja is the only one still signed to Murder Inc. Katherine: Though the name was around – this video’s set at “The Inc. History is constantly rewritten around the celebrities of the present.Ĭrystal: Maybe the most fun fact in all of music: one of the few non-rap/R&B projects that Irv Gotti was involved in was Heroes & Thieves, the third studio album from Vanessa Carlton, released on The Inc. Katherine: It’s not just him reading criticism you’d think Pharrell and Timbaland and maaaybe Darkchild were the only R&B producers working.
Gotti’s singles production discography is a lot smaller of a list than someone like Timbaland or Pharrell (he really only produced for Ja, Ashanti, and DMX) but his batting average is much better: “Holla Holla,” “What’s Luv,” “I’m Real (Murder Remix),” “Always On Time,” “Foolish,” and of course, “Mesmerize.” Given how much we talk about rap/sung duets being critical to the sound of this era, I’m surprised that when we talk about producers of the early-aughts we almost never talk about Irv.
We’ve chosen to focus in on “Mesmerize” here, which was one of the few tracks produced by Irv Gotti. I think we all know who won that fight.Ĭrystal: All the big Ja + female R&B singer duets are generally fire, and similarly, all Ashanti + dude rapper duets are fire, too.
In 2015, Blender redirects to a broken page on Maxim’s website and the list is only accessible via a copy-paste on a poker forum. Katherine: In 2004, Blender called “Mesmerize” one of the 50 worst songs of all time. This is the Total Rewatch Live nostalgia that you were promised! Ja Rule + Ashanti duet: IT’S MURRRRRRDAAAAAAAA! Like those two think they invented the rapper and singer combo”Ĭrystal: I know you’ve been waiting, but here it finally is. Ahhh, the comments: “Ashanti and Ja Rule were at it waaay before Jay Z and Bey.