Skip to main content

Fans are still reeling over Jennifer Lopez and Shakira‘s epic performance at this year’s Super Bowl. Despite acclaim over the set, many fans were really hoping that a frequent collaborator of J. Lo’s would have come out during the performance.

Jennifer Lopez performing at the 2020 Super Bowl
Jennifer Lopez performing at the 2020 Super Bowl | Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule’s collaborations, including the Ashanti factor

When thinking of artists who frequently worked with and collaborated with Lopez, rapper Ja Rule should automatically be at the top of that list.

The duo worked on two back-to-back remix collaborations. One was “I’m Real” and the other was “Ain’t It Funny.” Both of the songs were chart-topping hits and had memorable music videos.

Controversy has also plagued the collaborations between the two, as it was rumored for years that Ashanti sang a lot of Lopez’s vocals on the songs. Ja Rule had denied the rumors, but admitted in 2019 that he wasn’t “100 percent sure” if some of Ashanti’s vocals were not left on “I’m Real.” He told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, “When they mixed down the record, Irv [Gotti] left some of the vocals underneath. … She has some vocals underneath, I believe. And that is the rumor. I don’t even know if it’s really true!”

Ashanti also spoke about it in a 2014 interview, saying, “I demoed the record for her. … And they kept my hook and, you know, they kept some of the backgrounds and ad-libs and stuff like that. And it was funny, it was bittersweet because I was really excited ’cause it was J.Lo. But I was so mad at Irv. I was like, ‘You know I wanted that record!’ … I was so mad, but I was happy at the same time because it was J.Lo.”

Fans wanted the rapper to come out during her performance

Lopez performed a small portion of “Ain’t It Funny” during her Super Bowl set with Shakira. On social media, it seemed like many fans were eager for the rapper to join her on stage to perform the hit track.

“I was hoodwinked into thinking ja rule was gonna make an appearance in Jennifer Lopez’s halftime show,” said one person.

Another added, “NO MR 305 OR JA RULE MAKES THIS ERRONEOUS.” One fan tweeted Lopez and said, “What happened to JaRule!! We were all waiting?? In the words of my kids, ‘That’s not cool!’

Ja Rule showed support for J. Lo during the performance

If anyone thought that Ja Rule may have been salty that he was not on stage with the multi-hyphenate entertainer, he sent out a tweet that should have shut down any rumors. He tweeted, “My sis @JLo KILLING HALFTIME!!! Dope…”

Even after that, fans were still tweeting him back, saying they wanted him to be up on the stage with her. “Not gonna lie, you should’ve been there,” said one person.

Another fan tweeted, “It would have been awesome to see you make even a 10 second appearance.”

Best in Entertainment