Serious Fast And Furious fans will remember that Ja Rule had a small role as a driver in the franchise's first movie. Director John Singleton had an idea for an expanded role for Ja in the sequel. But the emcee's music career was on fire back then and he decided to pass. So Singleton got in touch with Ludacris and the rest is history .
"Ja got too big for himself, Singleton told Grantland. "He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. He got 15 grand to be in the first movie. He was really big at that time. I guess Murder Inc. was throwing out hits and were making money hand over foot. He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn’t return calls. I went to the studio to go see him — that’s just my mantra, I deal with a lot of music people. He was kinda playing me to the side and I was like, ‘What? What is this shit?’ This was all initiated by me. I then made a call. I called Ludacris. I said, ‘Hey, Luda, I haven’t met you before, but I like what you’re doing right now.’ Luda was all humble, excited to meet me. I said, ‘I’m doing this movie and I’m wondering if you want to be a part of it.’ He goes, ‘What? Yeah! Anything you do I want to be a part of.’ That’s how Ludacris got in '2 Fast 2 Furious,' and the rest is history."Ja Rule's career would probably be in a much different space had he taken that offer. Singleton went on to say that Ja has admitted he messed up.
"Ja Rule not doing '2 Fast 2 Furious' changed Ludacris’ life. Years later I saw Ja Rule at the Source Awards and we joked about it. I took him under my arm and said, ‘Man, when I call you, you listen. I ain't calling you for no bullshit.’ He said, ‘Yeah, man, I’m sorry about that.’ He apologized. I love Ja. I still think Ja has a lot of personality and can come back in a different way."Do you think Ja Rule would've had the same impact in the role of Tej if he had taken it?