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Ja Rule’s a free man, and he’s got a new single—“Fresh Out da Pen”—to prove it. Rule, you may remember, climbed the charts around the start of the millennium with a series of TRL-friendly hip-hop ballads. But his cute Grease homage with Ashanti gave way to endless feuding with 50 Cent and his crew, and in 2011, Rule was sentenced to two years in prison on tax and gun charges. Rule reportedly spent his time in stir palling around with other moneyed convicts like former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski and disgraced New York comptroller Alan Hevesi. But he’s been free for seven months now, and he’s seemingly unhappy with what became of hip-hop in his absence; on “Fresh Out da Pen,” he disclaims interest in both molly and Tom Ford. Ja Rule performs at 11:30 p.m. at Howard Theatre, 620 T St. NW. $25.50–$30.50. (202) 803-2899. thehowardtheatre.com.