Ja Rule may be living comfortably now, but he didn’t always have it like that—and back in the day, his empty wallet sometimes meant sneaking out on the bill at Red Lobster.
Speaking with Us Weekly on Thursday, July 10, at the launch party for his new mixed slushie drink at Tender Crush in NYC’s Soho, the Queens rapper opened up about his pre-fame hustle. Ja, who also recently launched his whiskey brand Amber & Opal, shared that even when he couldn’t afford it, he still wanted to treat his now-wife, Aisha, to the good life.
“It’s funny because I’ve known my wife since I was broke. Some of our best dates were back then,” Ja Rule told Us Weekly. “I used to take her to Red Lobster and stuff. I actually ran out on the meal and she didn’t even know. I set it up—I told her, ‘Hey, let me go handle the bill, the cab’s outside, you go ahead and hop in.’”
According to Ja, Red Lobster made the dine & dash a little too easy. “And this was Red Lobster’s fault, really—because the bathroom and pay phone were right by the door. So people would act like they were on the phone, dip into the bathroom, and slide right out. So, yeah, I did that.”
It turns out his wife—now his partner of 24 years and mother to their three kids—only recently learned the truth about those early dinners.
“We used to eat good,” Ja laughed. “Those were some of the best times. And now, when we’re out actually paying for meals, we can look back and laugh at it all.”
