Rapper Ja Rule (Jeffrey Bruce Atkins) surprised fans by appearing in a bizarre commercial for Papa Cristo’s Greek deli.
The commercial opens with Ja Rule — who is wearing a black t-shirt emblazoned with “I [heart] Greece” — enthusing over the Greek deli’s dishes, saying “smack you momma!”
A loud, slapping sound follows.
Ja Rule then goes on to assure viewers that Papa Cristo’s Greek deli, located on L.A.’s 2771 West Pico Boulevard, has the “best m*****f**k**g gyros.”
But despite his enthusiasm for Papa Cristo’s cuisine, Ja Rule struggles to pronounce the Greek deli’s specialty dishes, such as tzatziki, oktapodakia, avgolemono soup, and kreatopita.
In one scene, the head of the deli’s founder is photoshopped on a DJ performing on the dancefloor.
The spot ends with Ja Rule making an unsuccessful attempt to do a Greek dance.
Check out the hilarious video below:
Fans react on Twitter
Some fans thought that the commercial was good and that Ja Rule’s performance was hilarious.
But many fans disapproved of the ad, saying it was ridiculous and cringeworthy and that as a former A-list performer, Ja Rule should not have done it.
“How the mighty have fallen,” one YouTuber user commented.
Others said they couldn’t wait for Ja Rule’s rival, 50 Cent, to react to the commercial.
Referring to his recent involvement in the Fyre Festival fiasco, some Twitter users suggested that Ja Rule did the ad because he was in debt.
“Ja Rule digging himself out of that Fyre fest debt one day at a time,” one Twitter user reacted.
Ja Rule was involved in the Fyre Festival fiasco
Ja Rule’s appearance in Papa Cristo’s Greek deli commercial comes after his involvement with Bill McFarland — CEO of Fyre Media Inc — in the failed 2017 Fyre Festival.
Fyre Festival, which was meant to promote Fyre Media Inc’s Fyre app for booking music talent, turned out to be a fraudulent scheme.
McFarland eventually pleaded guilty in 2018 to defrauding investors, ticket vendors, and holders. He was found guilty of spending thousands of dollars of investors’ money on personal expenses and sentenced to six years in federal prison.
However, Ja Rule was eventually cleared of involvement in the fraud, and he later released a track in which he rapped about the incident.
Rapper Ja Rule rose to prominence in the rap scene during the early 2000s after he released his debut single Holla Holla from his 1999 debut studio album Venni Vetti Vecci.
He followed up the success of Venni Vetti Vecci with Rule 3:36 in 2000, Pain Is Love (2001), The Last Temptation (2002), Blood in My Eye (2003), and R.U.L.E. (2004).
He is also known for Billboard Hot 100 chart-bursting hits, such as Always on Time (Feat. Ashanti), Mesmerize (Feat. Ashanti), and Between Me and You (Feat. Christina Milian).