A Manhattan judge yesterday (May 28) scolded Ja Rule for failing to appear in court last month because he was on tour in Germany.

As reported earlier, Ja Rule is facing gun possession charges stemming from a traffic stop last year in which police found a loaded 40-caliber semiautomatic in the rapper's Maybach.

According to The New York Daily News, Ja’s lawyer, Stacey Richman, blamed the organizers of the German tour for the mix-up.

“There was no excuse in my view for your absence [last month],” Supreme Court Justice Micki Scherer told Ja Rule.

Despite scolding the rapper for missing the court date, Scherer granted Ja Rule permission to perform in Russia.

Scherer stressed that Ja Rule must give a five day notice or any trips that would take him out of New York City's metropolitan area.  She also told the rapper that he must check in with the court upon his return from Russia.

Ja Rule has pleaded not guilty to the gun charges.  He faces up to three and a half years in prison due to New York’s strict gun laws.