Ja Rule: One man's trash is another man's treasure

If you're one of those loyal, faithful Murda Inc. fans, (holla! to all ten of you) then this might not be news to you. But to the rest of the world here's an update: No, Ja Rule is not living underneath a highway overpass humming "Rainy Dayz" and the "I'm Real (Remix)" to himself. Having found little warm reception to his last few musical efforts, Jeffrey Atkins has packed up and taken his dog and pony show all the way down to Brazil. Apparently, the Brazilians are quite fond of the thug midget and his Ruff McGruff voice. The photo above was posted on Twitter by a Brazilian fan. I guess beauty, or in this case, TALENT, really is in the eye (and ears) of the beholder.

While Ja could probably make good money just playing his old material down there in Rio de Janeiro, he actually managed to find himself a Brazilian Ashanti named Wanessa. (It's pronounced Vanessa. Brazilians like to get creative with spelling names.) The two even cobbled together an Ashanti and Ja Rule-esque collabo called "Fly," which finds Ja Rule pairing his signature thug lovin' flow with a rhythmically-challenged, leggy, light-voiced female singer. The tried and tested formula sort of works, except this time the lyrics are sung in Portuguese-accented English by a woman who looks like Heidi Klum and Gisele's cousin. (I suppose Ja wasn't up for scouting out for raw talent in the favelas. Murda Inc. ain't THAT hood.)

Wanessa and Ja recently performed their duet on the MTV Brazil version of the VMAs and the audience ate it up, even though Ja and Wanessa pretty much just awkwardly wandered around the stage for about 4 minutes.

Watch the video below. Skip to about 1:30, that's when the performance starts.

Excuse me for a moment, my American readers, I need to have a word with my Brazilian friends. Gente, me diga o que é isso? Vocês querem dizer que com todo o talento que vocês tem lá no Brasil, essa porcaria de Wanessa e Ja Rule é uma das canções mais tocadas do ano 2009? Meus caros Brasileiros, joguem esse lixo para fora, por favor. Aquele cara não presta nada.

Ok, I'm back. Didn't that performance remind you of that 2001 VMAs performance of "I'm Real" with Ja and Jennifer Lopez, except with a lower budget and 10 years too late?