What’s Luv? Apparently, it’s not something that Ashanti and Ja Rule shared with each other.

Longtime collaborators, Ja Rule and Ashanti, have been linked together in romance rumors for the last two decades and, given their amazing musical chemistry, some fans assumed it was just a given that they had hooked up. According to one side of the equation though, that was never the case.

They’ve collaborated countless times and have some of the best working chemistry in the studio but, according to Ashanti, things never got past that point with Ja Rule. During an Instagram Live session with Fat Joe, another one of her close friends, she revealed that her relationship with Ja Rule was never romantic.

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“Our chemistry was so ill,” she said before denying the dating rumors. “We never messed with each other like it never was even a thing.”

She went on to give more of an eye into their friendship.

“So we could not see each other for months and we would be at an awards show and perform on stage and it would look like we’ve been together the whole day. Even sometimes we would be coordinated with our outfits,” she said. “It’s crazy to have that kind of chemistry with someone you’re not in a relationship with.”

She may have never gotten past the point of “just friends” with Ja Rule, but she did reveal that she’s got herself a boy toy right now.

“A little something something, a little lituation,” she said to Fat Joe about her current love life.

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Fat Joe joined R&B legend Ashanti on Instagram Live, Saturday, and revealed that Irv Gotti and Ja Rule originally wanted to swap out Ashanti for Jennifer Lopez, because they wanted “the Latinos on this.”

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“Irv and Ja had called me, and they woke me up [at] like 3 in the morning, and they say, ‘Yo, come down, we made a song for you,” he recalls. “I go to the studio, it was like 4 in the morning. They played ‘What’s Luv?’ and you on it. And they was telling me, ‘Yo, this is for you and J. Lo. We want the Latinos on this.”

Joe says he was taken away by Ashanti’s vocals and said she deserved to be there: “I was like, yo, J. Lo? She [Ashanti] sound amazing on here. I was like, ‘Nah, we leaving her there.'”

The story was news to Ashanti as much as it was news to any of the listeners. She reacted with an emphatic “What?,” after Joe finished.

“What’s Luv?,” featuring Ashanti’s vocals, went to peak at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remained on the charts for 20 weeks. It remains one of the most popular tracks on both artist’s discographies.

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There doesn’t seem to be any chance that we’ll see 50 Cent and Ja Rulego face-to-face for an IG Live battle. Though there has been chatter surrounding the idea of this happening, Fif’s shot it down completely while Ja has claimed that this is, once again, another win in his books.

In a recent interview with Big Boy, 50 Cent explained why he doesn’t think it makes sense to go up against Ja Rule in a battle. Instead, he suggested it would make far more sense to go face-to-face with Snoop Dogg instead since they both have extensive catalogs. “It would make more sense, catalog wise — me and Snoop. ‘Cause we would be able to compete every step of the way. Ja Rule? He got like five, six good duets,” Fif explained. “They’re all doable records but they’re someone else’s,” he added. “Stevie Wonder, ‘Do I Do’!” He continued before mocking the song. 

Ja Rule chimed in shortly after in the comment section of Big Boy’s IG post. “He don’t want that pressure,” Ja wrote with a laughing emoji. “And Snoop our ya league bra,” he added, though it’s unclear what he actually meant.

What do y’all think? Snoop Dogg’s been delivering bangers since the early 90s while 50 Cent’s reign began nearly a decade later. Do you think that’s a fair match up? Sound off in the comments. 

Ja Rule may have battled 50 Cent years ago but he's still trying to convince the world that he came out on top. In a new series of tweets, the rapper brought the situation back up and claims that he was jumped by a whole bevy of characters, restricting him from ever being able to fight fairly.

"Y'all gone STOP with this false narrative that 50 killed me lmao when I went up against 50, em, gunit, d12, busta, dmx, dr. dre and FBI at the same damn time... lmao Let's talk about it," wrote Ja Rule. "I speak NOTHING but truth... Never no cap..."

Never no cap? What about Fyre Festival? Sorry, I had to.

He continued by co-signing one fan who claimed that Ja put his hands and feet on 50 Cent during their feud.

Ja Rule isn’t done talking about why he won’t battle 50 Cent. The New York rapper previously said during an interview with Hot 97 over the weekend that battling 50 Cent would be tantamount to cultural disrespect. 

Rule said at the time that he would never back down from a battle, but continued to say: “I don’t know if me and him can do that. I don’t know if that would work. Just for respect of the culture. I would never want to disrespect the culture and let me and his little thing get into the love and respect of what Versuz has brought to the culture, for each other’s catalog and the artistry. I would never want to tarnish that.”

Now, we have clips from another recent IG live session Ja Rule did with Kenny Burns, and once again, 50’s name makes it way into the conversation as discussion of a potential battle returns.

Before we dive in, it’s worth noting that it was Ja who proposed the battle in the first place. He even insinuated that Fif was scared to go hit-for-hit with him, but he’s singing a bit of a different tune now.

In the conversation on Live, that you can catch a piece in the clip below, Ja says, “He likes to talk dirty. There’s no way we could be casual, cordial.” 

“He likes to be petty and silly, so it couldn’t happen. There’s only been one [battle] that’s a little sideways,” Ja said, continuing, “And that’s how Swizz and them want it,” he said referring to Swizz’s IG battle series, Versuz.

We’ll keep you posted on whatever happens with the 50 Cent vs Ja Rule IG battle.

Ja Rule says he will not be battling 50 Cent for the Timbaland and Swizz Beatz Instagram Live series, Versuz. 

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In an interview with Hot 97, Sunday, he praised the series but admitted that he will not be performing on it.

"I never back down from a battle, man. I love it," Rule explained. "My catalog speaks for itself. I have a great catalog. It would be dope for hip-hop. It would be fun, and it’s for the culture. Versuz is about love and respect for each other’s catalog, and what you’ve done for music, and what you contributed.

"I don't know if me and him can do that. I don't know if that would work. Just for respect of the culture. I would never want to disrespect the culture and let me and his little thing get into the love and respect of what Versuz has brought to the culture, for each other’s catalog and the artistry. I would never want to tarnish that," Rule said.

Rule originally wanted to battle with 50 Cent on the show, but was shot down by his rival. "Who want to battle, ?and here’s a moment of silence for the still sick and suffering. LOL," 50 Cent wrote on Twitter with a viral clip on himself from Entourage.

It's safe to say that there won't be an Instagram Live Battle between Ja Rule and 50 Cent. The longstanding feud between the two rappers has been well-documented on social media, in songs, and in interviews. The chart-topping artists just can't seem to get on the same page, and after Ja expressed interest in participating in Timbaland and Swizz Beatz's Verzuz Battles on IG, fans were excited to see these toe got head-to-head. Swizz seemed uncertain because he's aware that the two rappers don't get along on and off wax, but Ja said he was willing to give the culture what they wanted.

Ja Rule insists that he "musically influenced" 50 Cent, even though Fif shut down Ja's request for a hit battle. The former rivals reignited their beef this week after Ja publicly challenged 50 to rise to the occasion during a call-in to Fat Joe and Swizz Beatz's IG live session. Swizz is a co-founder alongside Timbaland of the recently formed Verzuz series, which sees producers, rappers, and various artists going head-to-head on Instagram live with the best work of their career, Ja thought it was a good opportunity to mention his prospective opponent. Fif responded to the suggestion by making it very clear that he was not going to engage in such tomfoolery, later calling the idea "stupid" and claiming Ja was just trying to get attention. Ja fired back by calling the rap mogul a "coward," later inferring that Fif was just too "scared to compete" against him because he might lose.

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On Thursday, Ja took it even further by positioning himself as one of Fif's prominent influences on his career. The Fyre Festival leader retweeted a post by Ebro In The Morning that shows DJ Kast One and Peter Rosenberg playing his and 50's hits to determine who the winner would be. "Haha cute lil battle," Ja responded, "but let’s be honest I musically INFLUENCED 50... let’s talk about!!! Lmao."

The Instagram Live beat battles have provided endless amounts of entertainment over the past few weeks. We've seen revered pairs of producers like RZA and DJ Premier and Scott Storch and Mannie Fresh go head-to-head to see who's catalog contains the better records. But it hasn't only been producers -- songwriters, too, have jumped on the trend. 

The one battle that has been mentioned but will definitely not come into fruition is Ja Rule vs. 50 Cent. This all began yesterday when Ja Rule proposed to go song-for-song with50 Cent. Though it would be unlikely that they would bury the hatchet afterward, Ja Rule thought this was the only fair way to see who the true winner of their decade-plus war is. Fif simply brushed him off, claiming Ja was simply chasing attention.

Well, it looks like Ja Rule is looking at the situation differently. Taking to Instagram, he shared a photo of 50 Cent with "Shook Ones Pt. II" by Mobb Deep playing along with the caption "COWARD." He later shared a screenshot of a separate article about 50 Cent's reaction with the song's hook playing.

"I just wanna say that it’s all love from my side never scared to compete I was asked would I do a verzuz with 50 and I said of course I don’t back down lol... I stand by my catalog and the records I’ve written for others I LOVE HIP HOP... #fortheculture," he wrote on Twitter afterward.

Despite this, he did share a meme while showing love for his fans for standing by his side. 

Yesterday, a proposition circulated for both 50 Cent and Ja Rule to engage in an Instagram Live battle. IG Live battles have become an exciting form of entertainment for celebrities and fans alike, as artists go to toe-to-toe while fans watch from around the world playing their respective hits until a winner can be declared.

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Ja Rule and 50 Cent have a long history of beef together which makes the proposal that much more interesting, also, it’s worth noting that the initial idea stemmed from Ja himself. He mentioned it during an IG Live conversation with Fat Joe. Fif, ever the astute internet troll, quickly caught wind of the idea and did not waste any time in responding. Of course, 50 is back with another jab for Ja, while neither confirming nor denying that he would do the IG battle. His latest post angled at Ja Rule is a meme of the artist, with Ja’s face photoshopped on top of a homeless man with a cardboard street sign that reads: “Will battle 50 Cent for attention” (mind you “attention” is misspelled). 50 captioned the post: “Stupid” and reminded us of Ja’s disastrous festival attempt, “Fyre Festival.”

Do you think this battle will actually happen? And if so, will 50 Cent be the winner? Sound off.