(ThyBlackMan.com) I noticed that the rapper Ja Rule is headed to prison this week to begin a two-year sentence on a weapons charge. Being caught with a gun in New York is no joke, especially when you’re black. The NYPD stops and searches black males at alarming rates, and the state has no problem locking you down for a very long time.
The last time I heard from Ja Rule as an artist was when he was smacked to the pavement by 50 Cent, who made a couple of songs that seemed to put Ja’s career in a casket. I have to confess, however, that 50 Cent is arguably 
the most brilliant, yet immature rapper in America. He likes to send nasty comments at other artists over twitter to resuscitate his own exhausted hip-hop career. He learned long ago that beef sells, so he tends to fight with anyone who wants to fight back – it’s all a business strategy.
Beyond Ja Rule’s beef with 50 Cent, I also remember all those corny love songs that made me quickly change the channel. Now, Ja Rule stands as a 35-year old man whose only thought before heading to prison is making sure that his album gets released before he gets locked up.
“It’s funny because, I’m about to go to jail, and my main concern is to make sure that I get this album done and out there for the fans,” he said in a recent interview.
As I read about this nearly middle aged man with three children talk about his album as he awaits his trip to prison, part of me wonders if Ja might be missing the point. On one hand, you have to admire the fact that he’s focused on being as productive as possible in light of his difficult situation. But then again, you have to wonder why so many artists treat prison terms like short vacations or something to celebrate. Given that Ja Rule has been doing a multitude of interviews to discuss his upcoming visit to the Big House, I’m sure his album release date was set to coincide with the date of his incarceration. How ironic that a man releases something on the day that he can’t even release himself from either the criminal justice system or the self-destructive mentality that makes rappers think of prison as a ridiculous badge of honor.
I don’t make these comments to beat up on Ja Rule. Instead, I look forward to the day where rappers stop celebrating mass incarceration and start fighting against it. Our Never Going Back initiative against mass incarceration and recidivism has been quite successful, for there are tens of thousands of people across the nation who are fed up with the system as it stands. In our last Your Black World survey, three out of every four African Americans have a relative who’s served time in prison. Most rappers, if they haven’t done prison time themselves, have loved ones who’ve had their lives and opportunities destroyed by mass incarceration. Instead of rapping about the thrill of prison life, they might want to rap about ending this socio-political nightmare.
The late Tupac Shakur, in his last jail house interview, went out of his way to explain to other young black men that prison is not a fairytale. He communicated that no one should be proud of having gone to prison or look forward to it. I extrapolate Tupac’s statement to imply that he would probably like to see all of us stand together to avoid the prison system at all costs. So, not only should our personal choices and culture be modified, we must also confront those systems which cause black men to be more likely to be arrested, sentenced and marginalized than the rest of America.
Ja Rule, the 35-year old man with three kids, must start thinking about his children instead of his next album. If he and other artists don’t use their collective power to confront the devastation of the prison system, they will simply pass this social virus right down to the little ones who are waiting for them to be released. Our children’s futures are at stake, for there is a prison cell already waiting for every little black boy in kindergarten. This is NOT a game.
Staff Writer; Dr. Boyce Watkins
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit http://BoyceWatkins.com.