Ja Rule protested against the quality of public housing in his home state of New York on Tuesday (20.02.18).

The rap star decided to join the protest after hundreds of thousands of residents were forced to live in sub-par housing in late 2017, when there were issues with heating and water outages.

Speaking in front of City Hall of Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill De Blasio, the musician said: "They should all be ashamed of themselves.

"These are Americans, New Yorkers, living in third-world conditions and it should not be this way."

Ja claimed that the situation was making it impossible for children to fulfil their potential in school.

He explained: "How can the kids go to school and get a good education when they come home and there's not heat and no water? If you can't think straight at school, your mind can't - we have to start right here."

Focusing his attentions on the crowd, Ja added: "No heat, no hot water? No money, no rent!"

The 41-year-old star was handed a two-year sentence in prison for gun possession and tax evasion in 2012.

And he subsequently explained how his experience behind bars influenced his thinking.

Ja said: "When I went in I was a little bitter because I felt I was wrongfully imprisoned, you know? You dealing with a situation that's a touchy situation in our country, in society: You dealing with firearms. We have the right to bear arms in this country. Don't get me wrong: I had an illegal weapon, I take full responsibility for that, I did my time for that.

"But when I really rewind and look back on everything, it kind of hurts me because society wants to take artists and make an example out of them for others to look at and say, 'Damn, they locked up Lil Wayne, they locked up Ja Rule, they locked up T.I., they locked up Plaxico Burress. We better not do what they did.'"