You might not peg Ja Rule for the kind of person who makes friends easily. After all, his major claim to fame, other than prompting nostalgia for the turn of the century every time one of his songs pops up on shuffle, is having lots of beef with other dudes: It takes a special kind of guy to have a whole section on “feuds” in his Wikipedia entry.
But maybe Ja Rule’s turned over a new leaf, because, as the Daily News reports, he’s the Mr. Congeniality of the Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida, where he’s serving time for tax evasion and gun possession. Or perhaps it’s just that he’s hanging out with a better crowd — a modern-day salon. “Outside, you don’t meet guys like this every day. This place is amazing,” Ja Rule explained.
His new “posse” includes 65-year-old Dennis Kozlowski — or Koz, as Ja Rule calls him — who helped himself to the kitty at Tyco Inc., and who became “infamous for splurging on a $6,000 shower curtain and a $2 million party in Sardinia with an ice sculpture of Michelangelo’s David urinating vodka.” Swag.
Ja Rule’s other new buddy is “Hevy D,” Alan Hevesi, the 72-year-old former state controller who was locked up after a pay-for-play scandal. They bonded over ideas more than lifestyle. “Hevey’s a Democrat like me, so that helps,” Ja Rule told the paper. “He told me how it’s like pulling teeth with the two parties trying to get bills passed.” There are also the dearly departed friends, who he doesn’t get to see now that he’s moved on from the Hudson Correctional facility, like Hank Morris, a strategist who was involved in the same scandal as Hevy D. “Hank was my Spades partner, and we were undefeated in basketball,” Ja Rule said. “Hank had a jumpshot, man.” But no nickname?
In a TOTAL COINCIDENCE, Ja Rule has a new album coming out this month, which he needs to promote from jail. But maybe soon all musical stars, not just the ones behind bars, will decide that associating themselves with non-household names who took part in mid-level state political scandals is the best way to get headlines and generate buzz.
