Why Ashanti And Ja Rule Had The Empire We All Wanted

Murder Inc. was the record label every company wanted to be. In the early 2000's you couldn't turn on your radio without hearing a Ja Rule and Ashanti song.

Hailing from Hollis, Queens, Ja Rule made his debut in 1999 with his first studio album Venni Vetti Vecci  lead by the single "Holla Holla." From 1999 to 2005, Ja Rule would reign as one of the top-selling hip-hop artists.

Ashanti was discovered as a teenager and signed to Murder Inc. in 2001. After generating buzz following her appearance on Big Pun's "How We Roll,"  she teamed up with Fat Joe and Ja Rule for the hit single, What's Luv?" In 2002, Ashanti released her self-titled album, Ashanti. The album sold over half a million copies within the first week.

In 2001, Ja Rule released his third studio album Pain Is Love. He teamed up with Caddillac Tah, Black Child, and Ashanti on the track "The Inc." While the album had some hit singles, "The Inc." fell short in creating the vibe of a gangsta crew that they were going for.

After the success of Ashanti's first self-titled album in 2002, she didn't wait long to release a follow-up album. Chapter II was released in 2003 and the hit singles, "Rain on Me," "Rock Wit U (Awww Baby)," and "Breakup 2 Makeup" were all on this album.

In 2002, Murder Inc. Records was a force to be reckoned with; the label was producing hit albums and singles under the direction of CEO Irv Gotti. Gotti released the compilation album Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc. The album featured songs from all the artists on the label. "Down 4 You," was the first single off the record and featured Ja Rule, Ashanti, Vita and Charlie Baltimore.

Ja released the remix to "The Pledge" featuring the Queens rapper,  Ashanti, and Tupac Shakur. As usual, Ashanti was on the hook adding her vocals to make the song catchy, and fans ate it up.

When "Always On Time" hit radio airwaves in 2001 it was an instant hit. The song paired with the video introduced fans to Ja Rule and Ashanti as a dynamic duo. The single was Ja Rule's first number 1 hit to top the Billboard Hot 100.

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The $524,400 Twin Turbo Bugatti Watch

Jacob & Co. announced a long-term partnership with Bugatti car manufacturer to collaborate on a series of exclusive co-branded products. The partnership aims to push "the limits of what seems mechanically possible."

One of those  'future projects' has arrived. The new partnership between Jacob  & Co. and Bugatti launches with two new timepieces. One of them is a  limited edition of the Jacob & Co. Twin Turbo Furious: The Twin Turbo Furious Bugatti Edition.

Design wise, the watch features a turquoise blue outer ring on  dial in order to pay homage to Bugatti’s 110-year anniversary blue Chiron. It also features the Bugatti logo on the center of the dial between tech chronograph counters.

The second watch being unveiled in Baselworld is the Bugatti Chrono Edition Limitee 100 Ans. As its name suggests, the collection pays tribute to the founding of the brand by Ettore Bugatti 100 years ago in 1909. Just 110 pieces will be made to honor each year since that founding.

Slack Gives Customers More Control

Slack announced today that it is launching Enterprise Key Management a new tool that enables customers to control their encryption keys in the enterprise version of the communications app.

Slack currently encrypts data in transit and at rest, but the new tool augments this by giving customers greater control over the encryption keys that Slack uses to encrypt messages and files being shared.

A big benefit of EKM is that in the event of a security threat or if you ever experience suspicious activity, your security team can cut off access to the content at any time if necessary.

EKM for Slack is generally available today for Enterprise Grid customers for an additional fee. Slack, which announced plans to go public last month, has raised over $1 billion on a $7 billion valuation.

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New Apple iPad Air And iPad Mini Released

All new models now support the Apple Pencil, but you might want to double check your iPad model before buying one.

It looks identical to the previous 2015 model. But everything has been updated inside the device. It now features an A12 chip (the system on a chip designed for the iPhone XS), a 7.9-inch display that is 25 percent brighter, features a wider range of colors and works with True Tone.

Unlike with the iPad Pro, the iPad mini still features a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, a Lightning port and a headphone jack. You can buy it today for $399 for 64GB.

Second, the iPad Air. While the name sounds familiar, this is a new device in the iPad lineup. When Apple introduced the new iPad Pro models back in October, Apple raised the prices on this segment of the market.

The iPad Air now features an A12 chip, which should represent a significant upgrade over the previous generation iPad Pro that featured an A10X. The iPad Air works with the Smart Keyboard. You can buy the device today for $499 with 64GB of storage. You can choose to pay more for 256GB of storage and cellular connectivity. It comes in silver, space gray and gold.

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Myspace Loses Millions Of Users Music

MySpace has issued a tersely worded message noting that a huge amount of user uploaded music has been lost during a server migration.

“As a result of a server migration project, any photos, videos, and audio files you uploaded more than three years ago may no longer be available on or from MySpace. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Some are understandably skeptical of the whole situation. Others are suggesting this be seen as a cautionary tale for those relying on more contemporary services to host their art.

MySpace was, of course, a major internet presence in the mid-aughts. The company was purchased by NewsCorp for $580 million in 2005, becoming the most visited site in the States around the same time. Six years later, it was sold for a mere $35 million, having since been eclipsed by Facebook.

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