It has taken some time but rappers are crossing over in droves. Jay-Z, DMX, Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg all have loyal pop fan bases. Such is the case with Ja Rule. The Def Jam artist spins through lyrics with the best of them and is the hot guest for singers like Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey, Lil' Mo and most-recently, Case. "They're paying top dollar and they want their records now," the rapper said of all the singers who want him to pen tunes for them. "I'm avoiding phone calls and everything 'cause I'm trying to finish my own album. It's a crazy game. You gotta be a workhorse."

Ja Rule is a natural at this songwriting gig and is becoming a crooner at the same time. He plans to work with Brandy and credits Mariah Carey as the first artist to give him a chance to prove himself. "My first chance ever to pen something with R&B was Mariah," he told Launch. "Mariah gave me a chance first. She called me in for a record to do with her on her Glitter album, and we did it and it came out hot. It's me, her, and Nate Dogg. And it came out real hot, but Mariah didn't choose to go with it as a single, she chose to go with the other record. It's not my business, you know, to call what records get put out there but I felt my record should have went first."

In addition, Ja Rule all but confirms the belief that Sony is infatuated with beating Mariah Carey on the charts by claiming that someone at Sony overheard the track for Mariah's Glitter album and wanted him to work with Jennifer Lopez. In any case the track became a top-10 hit and could make J.Lo a stable in R&B chartland. "'I'm Real' is the biggest radio record in the history of music. I'm like 'Wow, that's a pretty tough one. I don't know how I'm gonna shake that one.' But I'm gonna try, you know what I'm sayin', I'm gonna try. I just wrote a record for Brandy, I'mma try to take it home with that one, you know, maybe that one will break that record. I just want to exceed my last...whatever I've done last, you know. They say you're only as hot as your last record, I'mma keep making hot records then."