Inc4Life!
Chapter1:Before 2005, Chapter 2: 2006& Beyond

NEWS

Myspace Media Downloads

You can now download Ja Rule's new track "21 Gunz" on his http://myspace.com/jarule.

 Another of The Inc/MPire's new recruits The Gift has finnaly put a track on his MySpace its called "Chi 2 NY Connection" you can listen to it and download it on The Gift's MySpace.

New Video of Ja and Harry O on  jarule.com

A new video of Ja Rule in the studio with Harry O is availible to watch on jarule.com. 

*Please be sure to check out the new mixtape, Murder Inc/Mpire Mix Tape.
All new music by Ja Rule & Other Inc/Mpire Artists.

The Inc Myspace Links

Ashanti's cousin killed in Johannesburg car crash

International R&B star Ashanti Douglas had to pull out of a concert in Johannesburg on Saturday when her cousin was killed in a car crash in Randburg.
Quinshae Snead, 20, was flung from a BMW in Hans Strijdom Drive when it rolled after being rear-ended by a speeding Toyota Corolla.
Her body was thrown into the oncoming lane where it was hit by another vehicle, said West Rand police spokesperson Solomon Sibiya.
The 17-year-old unlicensed driver of the speeding Toyota Corolla had stolen his mother's car, said Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar.
"He was also under the influence of liquor and measured 0,23 on the alcometer test," he said. He was arrested for drunken driving.
Minnaar said he and the driver of the BMW were seriously injured and were taken to the Olivedale Clinic for treatment.
Snead had been on her way from the Coca-Cola Dome to a Johannesburg hotel to fetch something for her famous cousin before her performance in the Redd's Divas Concert.
Ashanti was to have appeared with singers Lauryn Hill, Regina Belle, Sibongile Khumalo, Simphiwe, Lebo Mathosa, Bongo Maffin and Tyte Dana.
Describing the crash as a tragedy, Ashanti's promoter Morris Roda thanked her fans for coming out to support her and apologised that she was unable to perform.
It was Ashanti's first trip to South Africa, he said.
She and Snead were close and had lived together in the United States, said another promoter.
"The Douglas family has asked the South African public to please keep Ashanti, her family and all those involved in this horrible car accident in their prayers," the promoters said in a statement.
They thanked the office of the president, other government departments, South African Airways and Travel with Flair for helping them to deal with the matter with the "dignity it deserves".
According to Internet biographies, Ashanti was born in 1980 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, into a musical family, started singing in a gospel choir when she was six and began songwriting in high school.
Her first hit was How We Roll in 2001, she was featured on the Ja Rule smash Always On Time, and on Fat Joe's hit What's Luv?
Her self-titled debut album was released early on April 9 2002, on it the single, Foolish. Source-MIO

Ashanti's hip-hop crown is studded with wisdom

MIAMI — Just a couple of hours before you're supposed to hook up with R&B singer Ashanti, a publicist calls to say her people want you to submit questions in writing.

You're like, um, no. After some back and forth, Ashanti's people relent and the interview is back on. But you arrive at her Ritz-Carlton suite in South Beach bracing for "the Princess" of hip-hop label The Inc. to throw shade.

Instead she bounds up to you with a warm hello. She's tiny in bare feet and the floral Vivienne Tam dress she still has on from an event earlier in the day.

She plops on the couch, puts her head on her knees. She's a little worn out. Been up since the crack getting ready for a morning media event aboard a yacht anchored behind the AmericanAirlines Arena for the launch of a dietary supplement called Ashanti's OPC-3 Beauty Blend, which promotes skin health.

It happens the product is sold by Market America, the Internet marketing company run by James and Loren Ridinger, whose daughter Amber last year had the blowout $500,000 post-bat mitzvah party at The Forge. Amber, envy of her teen set, rocked a $27,000 Dolce & Gabbana dress and was serenaded by Ashanti and Ja Rule.

"It's all very ironic," says Ashanti. 'I had rented a house from a friend when I was down here recording an album and the friend said, `I know this little girl who really wants to meet you.' She happened to live down the street. The little girl was Amber. I met her parents and I don't know, we just became family. They said, 'Next time you come to Miami, don't rent a house, come stay with us in our house.' Well, it's not a house, really it's an estate."

Ashanti and rapper Ja Rule, who have recorded several songs together for The Inc., regularly hang with the Ridingers when they're in town and one day surprised Amber by showing up at Miami Country Day School, where she is now an eighth grader.

"I don't remember the name of the school," Ashanti says with a laugh. "I just know that it was a really high-class, uppity place and it went bananas when we showed up."

"We really are like family," says Amber's mom Loren. "We do Thanksgiving dinner together, we support whatever is happening in her career. She is such an incredible young icon."

Ashanti may be just 25, but she seems polished beyond her years. She anticipates your questions, no need for her to see them in writing first. And she's smooth with her comebacks, even when you ask why she risked it all, just when her star was soaring, by backing Irv Gotti, the head of her label, when he went up on charges of laundering money for a notorious crack kingpin. Gotti was acquitted in late 2005. Ashanti, along with Ja, Jay-Z, Fat Joe and Russell Simmons, stood by him in the courtroom.
THE FAMILY

"You know, it's different with The Inc. We're so much more like a family than a record label. I showed up every day. It could of went sour, it really, really could have. And maybe that would have been bad for me. But me and Ja, we knew it was about being loyal. That's what family is about at the end of the day."

Murder Inc., as the label used to be called, gave Ashanti her big break. She started writing and singing hooks for other stars like Ja, J.Lo, Big Pun and Fat Joe. Her 2002 debut solo album Ashanti shot to No. 1 on both the Billboard Top 200 and R&B charts, selling half a million copies in its first week and more than 4 million total. Chapter II, which came in 2003, sold 2 million.

In 2003, heads at Murder Inc. decided it would do the label's image good to drop the murder part. And Ashanti says the proof is in the endorsement deals she's gotten since.

"Some people didn't understand what we meant by murder. It was like, we're murdering the industry. But some people took it as a negative. And it was kind of hurting me when it came to me getting other kinds of deals. But after the name was changed I got Herbal Essence, my perfume line [Precious Jewel, released in 2005], things like that.

Ashanti, who grew up in Glen Cove, Long Island, spends a good deal of time on South Beach. And yeah, she does the clubs. But not as often as a 20-something with velvet rope carte blanche might be expected to.

"I'm not really a club person. I go out sometimes when my brothers are here [she means the guys from The Inc.], but I'm always the first to leave. I'm always, like, 'See ya.' "

Might have something to do with the fact that Ashanti's mom frequently is right beside her.

HER 'MOMAGER'

"I get on the dance floor. I party," says Tina Douglas, who is not only Ashanti's mom, but also her manager. She calls herself the "Momager."

You bet mom is not just dancing, but watching.

"Every second. It's all about business. And it's all about taking care of my daughter," says Douglas.

You wonder if the hip-hop industry has been tough on mom and daughter. You know some of the thugged-out stuff is more marketing than truth, though The Inc. has in fact been known for hardcore beefs against others in the game.

But just how cut-throat has the business been and how has Momager handled it?

"Every business you're in is cut-throat," says Douglas. "I worked in the corporate world. I was a computer networking engineer, managed a department, worked for IBM for 10 years. In terms of cut-throat, what happens in corporate America is triple what happens in hip-hop. It prepared me."

While Ashanti poses for a photographer, Momager pulls out her own camera to take snapshots. Then she gets on the phone and orders Ashanti takeout from Joe's Stone Crab.

"I want some kind of grilled fish. And veggies. But, I mean, make sure there's some butter or something on them. I don't want it to not have any flavor," Ashanti tells mom in between flashes.

"My mom is definitely the backbone. We have such a unique relationship," says Ashanti. "She's more like my friend than an authority figure. Even the guys, they call her mom, but they don't think of her as mom, mom."  Source: MIO Forum macon.com

New Releases

	Ja Rule Exodus In Stores Now
	Ashanti The Collectables In Stores Now