Editing Ja Rule (section)

===Hiatus, departure from Def Jam, decline of The Inc. Records (2005–2009)===
[[File:Ja Rule Fort Hood.JPEG|thumb|right|Ja Rule performing in [[Fort Hood]], [[Texas]], May 13, 2005]]
On December 6, 2005, The Inc. released ''[[Exodus (Ja Rule album)|Exodus]]'', a greatest hits album whose only new tracks were the song "Me" and intro and [[outro (music)|outro]] tracks. ''Exodus'' was the last album on Ja Rule's contract with The Inc. After its release, Ja Rule took a hiatus from recording music.<ref name="allmusic"/> Meanwhile, [[The Inc. Records]] was still under investigation because of alleged drug trades with Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.<ref name="billboard.com"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Rashbaum|first1=William K.|last2=Sweeney|first2=Matthew|title=Hip-Hop Producers Get Acquittal, Then Hugs, From Jurors|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/nyregion/03gotti.html?_r=1&sq=&pagewanted=all|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 3, 2005}}</ref> This led to Def Jam Recordings refusing to renew The Inc.'s contract. From 2005 to 2006, Gotti searched for other labels, finally reaching a deal with [[Universal Records]] (part of the same company as Def Jam). A few years later The Inc. left Universal Records due to business issues and failure to secure funds for projects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.25501/title.ja-rule-admits-losing-to-50-cent|title=Ja Rule Admits Losing To 50 Cent|website=HipHopDX.com|date=September 20, 2013}}</ref> In 2007, Ja Rule founded record label '''Mpire Music Group'''.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}