“‘Fat Joe scared to do Verzuz with Busta Rhymes’ and so is everybody else.” So says… Fat Joe, who spoke on the possibility on his latest Friday live stream on Instagram. Amid talking about all the hot topics heading into the weekend, Joe touched on his recent Verzuz battle with Ja Rule, addressing the fan criticism that he’d ducked a similar faceoff against the other hip-hop legend, whose career of hits extends back 30 years to his breakout appearance on A Tribe Called Quest’s seminal posse cut, “Scenario.”
In defending himself, Joe praised Busta’s legacy and untouchable record of fan-favorite jams. “You gotta understand, sometimes you ever notice — you seen boxers and they knock everybody out?” he asked before insisting that, “People be scared to fight those boxers. Busta Rhymes is gonna out-rap, outperform anybody who goes up in a Verzuz with him. That’s a fact. Yo, Busta Rhymes, nobody wanna get in there with you, man. You might have to be an honorary — they gotta give you the check for no reason.”
Joe would know; in his battle with Ja Rule, despite his advantage in longevity, Rule pulled out way too many undeniable jams for him to keep up (it didn’t help he played a lot of his backpack rap favorites in a hits battle). Meanwhile, Rule had been taunting 50 Cent, hoping to joust with his onetime rival — who declined. Meanwhile, suitable opponents have yet to be found for other such legends like Eminem, Jay-Z, and Nas.
