Track List:
01 - The INC Intro
02 - Last Of The Mohicans (Feat. Black Child)
03 - Wonderful (Feat. R. Kelly & Ashanti)
04 - What's My Name
05 - New York (Feat. Fat Joe & Jadakiss)
06 - Stripping Game (Skit)
07 - The Manual
08 - Get It Started (Feat. Claudette Ortiz)
09 - R.U.L.E.
10 - True Story (Skit)
11 - Caught Up (Feat. Lloyd)
12 - Gun Talk (Feat Black Child)
13 - Never Thought
14 - Life Goes On (Feat. Trick Daddy & chink Santana)
15 - Weed (Skit)
16 - Where I'm From (Feat. Lloyd)
17 - Bout My Business (Feat. Caddillac Tah, Black Child & Young Merc)
18 - Passion
Just over a year after his last release and after a couple of years of beefing with the likes of 50 Cent and Eminem, Ja Rule is back with a new album, with the intention of getting his career back on track after his last two mediocre releases.
The album follows Ja’s usual tried and tested formula of pop style duets with R&B singers and gritty tracks interspersed with superfluous skits. It starts with the typical introduction the album could have done without, which leads into the track “Last of the Mohicans” which both production wise and lyrically is a pretty powerful track. It has a good up beat tune and has some of Rule’s more impressive lyrics from recent times as well as an emotional hook from Black Child, which together set the mood for the track really well.
The album then moves on to the clear choice for first single “Wonderful” featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti, which has got ‘for the pop charts R&B collaboration’ written all over it. It’s a stereotypical Rule single track, but unlike the embarrassment that was Mesmerize, this one is actually pretty good. R. Kelly and Ashanti do an excellent job on the hook with some above average lyrics from Ja. I get the feeling this would have been a much bigger hit had Ja not lost a lot of respect from after his recent beefs.
Tracks like “What’s My Name”, in which Ja uses some of his famous raspy rapping in a track which is pretty reminiscent of his Pain Is Love album. aren’t particularly impressive, they are ok but nothing special, just more of the same Ja Rule.
R.U.L.E. contains one of the biggest tracks of the last year “New York” which has Ja Rule hooking up with Jadakiss and Fat Joe for the album’s street hit which is probably the best track on the album, it’s just a pity it is followed up by yet another pointless skit.
There are a lot of duets with R&B acts on this album, mainly from label mates Ashanti and Lloyd, which make the album a kind of mix between the gritty Ja Rule from 3:36 and the more pop rapper who enjoyed commercial success off of Pain Is Love. It kind of seems Ja is trying to get back to his old self but still making the club tracks and tracks for the ladies. I think he needs to make his mind up and decide what he wants from an album before he puts it out.
On the whole this album is a hell of a lot better than his last two releases and is well worth getting for any Ja Rule fan, but it could have been better if it was a bit more like his debut LP “Venni Vetti Vicci”. It has a lot of party tracks, but also has some of the rawness Ja came with earlier in his career.
Hot Tracks: “New York”, “Wonderful”, “Last of the Mohicans”, “Bout My Business”
Artist: Ja Rule