Busta Rhymes has joined Eminem and 50 CENT in their verbal attack on rap rival Ja Rule after failing to get answers as to why his former pal had "dissed" him on record.

Rhymes was shocked when he heard about Ja Rule's attack on him and decided to take action when his eldest son asked him how his dad had incurred the Murder Inc star's wrath.

Rhymes has now joined 50 Cent and Eminem on new rap battle anthem HAIL MARY - a fresh attack on Ja Rule.

He says, "I was in a club in LA I saw BLACKCHILD from MURDER INC and he mentioned to me that something happened with Ja Rule going into the studio and making a song and he made a disrespectful gesture towards me.

"When I got home, I heard the song and my oldest son came up to me and said, 'Why is Ja Rule dissing you?' I couldn't really explain to my son because me and Ja was cool - we worked together, we did a lot of SUMMER JAMS together, we go to clubs together, we cool.

"I reached out several times to try and find out what the problem was but couldn't get through to him. I thought the issue had to be addressed, especially as I had my son checking me. I was getting disrespected. What are you gonna do?"

But Rhymes is keen to point out that he's not as serious about verbal rap battles as Eminem and 50 Cent.

He adds, "The focus is music at the end of the day. We're having fun. I don't want to compromise my integrity in the process."

24/04/2003 10:08