Saturday, December 25, 2004
Music Review: Ja Rule - R.U.L.E.
Ja Rule's formula for success was fairly simple; breakthrough with a hot single (Holla Holla), feature on a huge smash with Jay (Can I Get A), and then focus a sophomore album to appeal to the masses with hip-pop once you're known.
This formula led Ja Rule to damn near the top of the game in 2000. This same formula also led Ja Rule to the very bottom of the game in 2003. Using this formula, Rule 3:36 sold multiplatinum. Less than 3 years later, with the same formula, Blood In My Eye's sales struggled to match those of an unflushable toilet.
So what happened? Ja clearly had no idea, going so far as to hint at retirement. My guess is he suffered from two problems. #1 - Ja Rule might be the biggest example of an artist whose popularity vanished via overexposure. #2 - The beef with 50 and Shady Records seemed to create a backlash against Ja, who came to be seen as a poser and pussy compared to 50. And regardless of the fact that Ja won the beef against Shady Records with just one diss about Haylie, going up against Marshall the Mainstream ensured that Ja would be seen as the loser of the beef, and the millions of obsessed Marshallmaniacs were much less likely to buy Ja records.
With the beef behind him, Ja's newest record R.U.L.E. affirms that the retirement is not forthcoming, for better or worse. So let's find out which one of those it is.
The Inc. Intro
The intro is 2 minutes of gospel/God themed music that will almost surely be followed up by rapping about drugs, fucking, shooting and killing. How touching.
Last of the Mohicans
Within the first verse, Ja raps "I'm not very religious." So why the hell did he have to waste two minutes of my life with that intro?
The beat is fairly blah. At the very least, Ja raps a whole hell of a lot better than 50. He somehow didn't incorporate that very obvious fact into a diss during the beef. Then again, that's like saying Wild Turkey is better than Jose Cuervo.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the hook is done by Black Child, who sounds exactly like Freeway. Remember when rappers like Topp Dogg tried to sound like Snoop? A bunch of the 50/Ja beef centered over who was biting Pac. Has it really gotten so bad that rappers are trying to come up by sounding like Freeway?
Wonderful
*OH OH OH OH OH!!! OH OH OH OH!* Just about everyone has heard this track. The good news is that it's not quite as sappy as that Mesmerize crap. The bad news is that Ja felt obliged to make a track like this for obvious single purposes.
And just what the hell is the point of Ashanti's presence on this track? It's not hard to have a girl echoing R. Kelly in the background; the only thing required was a videocamera with audio feedback (especially that *OH OH OH OH OH* part).
What's My Name
Comparing Murder Inc. to Lazarus in the beginning of this track was surreal. I actually wouldn't mind if the entire label did the opposite of Lazarus and went from living to dead. Speaking of which, Murder Inc. is being investigated by the Feds for various crimes. If a murder attempt on 50 is not one of the allegations, I'll be disappointed.
To say Ja Rule's "What's My Name" doesn't match DMX's or Snoop's would be putting it succinctly. The hook is "J A R ... U L E." God this is terrible.
If I hadn't heard New York before, I might have just stopped right here. Good thing that's the next track.
New York
Ja was lucky enough to get Fat Joe and Jadakiss to lace the same track while both are basically at the height of their popularity off big singles.
This is a pretty tight track, and whoever did this beat earned their dough. This is clearly single material, which makes me wonder what necessitated Wonderful at all. I assume Ja was trying once again to appeal to thugs and mainstream pop lovers at the same time.
Of course, Clap Back was a pretty good track on the last album and we know how that venture fared.
Stripping Game (Skit)
Skits are just stupid. Especially one that tries to explain the history of stripping. These guys are barely rappers, let alone historians.
Manual
This seemed like a much better candidate for a hip-pop single than Wonderful to me. The beat's nice and easygoing. Ja attempts to ruin an ok track in which he raps relatively well (for Ja) through obnoxious singing on the hook. Reminds me of Marshall.
"40 to love and I wanna serve / that body like Serena's with less curves." I know Ja's got some sort of inferiority complex going over his lack of street cred, but Serena the tank truly would kick his ass.
Get It Started (Featuring Claudette Ortiz)
For some reason, this track prominently mentions Claudette Ortiz on reviews, tracklists and downloading titles. Maybe I missed something, but just who the hell is Claudette Ortiz? Were we supposed to know who this bitch is? She sounds like your typically terrible background bitch.
There was only one thing left to do. I actually can't tell you how good/bad this track is because I was too busy looking at images of Claudette Ortiz. And now I understand why the Murder Inc. crew would do whatever it took to get her in the studio.
R.U.L.E.
"Nobody can do it like I can do." Well that goes without saying, probably because it wasn't worth saying at all.
True Story (Skit)
This is the stupidest damn skit. They're really playing this comeback crap. If these guys had been more concerned about making good music than proving they were coming back, my ears might not be bleeding right now.
Caught Up
One time I read somewhere that people think this little boy Lloyd's got skills. if the contest requires looking like an 18 year old and singing like a 5 year old, I won't argue.
In the hook some random girl and Lloyd are singing back and forth to each other. But I actually had to listen hard to make sure that the entire hook wasn't done by Lloyd. I wish I was kidding.
Gun Talk
Other than New York, this track is so much better than anything else so far. The hook is tight, the beat rocks, and Ja's first verse is actually impressive. Where was this all album?
But this wouldn't be a Murder Inc. album if they didn't botch a good thing by adding that Freeway biting Black Child to totally slaughter the middle of the track. For the last verse, Ja Rule reverts to lame lyrics.
Never Thought
Everything about this track misses. The beat's too boring, Ja's too boring, and I'm sick of the same hooks by the same females.
Life Goes On
"How many brothers fell victim to the streets..."
How could I not listen to the Pac track? Same title, same idea, not even close to the same rapper or same track.
The Ja version features Trick Daddy and Chink Santana. The two of them sound somewhat similar. And let's just say Chink Santana couldn't hold the jockstrap of Juelz Santana.
Weed (Skit)
Like I'm actually going to listen to this.
Where I'm From
Let me guess: New York?
Seriously, this track's all right. "If I'm wrong then pardon me. / I'm just tired of poverty. / Why them niggas in the hood never hit the lottery? / Unless they go lottery..."
Even Lloyd is ok on this one. I don't understand why Ja is incapable of putting more tracks like this on an album in place of dregs like Never Thought.
Bout My Business
A whole stable of Murder Inc scrubs shit all over this track. It's probably harder work to be this bad than it is to be ok.
It makes me cringe to think just what they did to get on Murder Inc. Why not send these cats West and have them make a name for themselves at the expense of a couple G Unit casualties?
Passion
Ja sings "Nobody loves me." As if it's any wonder why that might be?
Then he sings, "I know you love me, but I'm still waitin for the love to come hug me." I would qualify that as perhaps being the gayest thing ever said on a rap track, except this really isn't rap, and Elton John is on the #1 selling rap album of last week.
And basically that's the problem with Ja Rule. There are plenty of rappers who can make hard songs and rap ok enough to matter. In fact, they're a dime a dozen.
So that seems to leave Ja trying to find a niche with this singing bullshit that he's been doing after Venni Vetti Vecci. But what's the point in trying to find a niche if it's not worth having?
The guy could run a Marathon with Bonecrusher on his back and clean out NYC Michael Corleone style on the same day, but he'd still be considered a pussy with this formula. R.U.L.E. doesn't change that, and if you burned yourself a CD of all the banging tracks over Ja's career, you wouldn't even recognize him.
This formula led Ja Rule to damn near the top of the game in 2000. This same formula also led Ja Rule to the very bottom of the game in 2003. Using this formula, Rule 3:36 sold multiplatinum. Less than 3 years later, with the same formula, Blood In My Eye's sales struggled to match those of an unflushable toilet.
So what happened? Ja clearly had no idea, going so far as to hint at retirement. My guess is he suffered from two problems. #1 - Ja Rule might be the biggest example of an artist whose popularity vanished via overexposure. #2 - The beef with 50 and Shady Records seemed to create a backlash against Ja, who came to be seen as a poser and pussy compared to 50. And regardless of the fact that Ja won the beef against Shady Records with just one diss about Haylie, going up against Marshall the Mainstream ensured that Ja would be seen as the loser of the beef, and the millions of obsessed Marshallmaniacs were much less likely to buy Ja records.
With the beef behind him, Ja's newest record R.U.L.E. affirms that the retirement is not forthcoming, for better or worse. So let's find out which one of those it is.
The Inc. Intro
The intro is 2 minutes of gospel/God themed music that will almost surely be followed up by rapping about drugs, fucking, shooting and killing. How touching.
Last of the Mohicans
Within the first verse, Ja raps "I'm not very religious." So why the hell did he have to waste two minutes of my life with that intro?
The beat is fairly blah. At the very least, Ja raps a whole hell of a lot better than 50. He somehow didn't incorporate that very obvious fact into a diss during the beef. Then again, that's like saying Wild Turkey is better than Jose Cuervo.
On a somewhat unrelated note, the hook is done by Black Child, who sounds exactly like Freeway. Remember when rappers like Topp Dogg tried to sound like Snoop? A bunch of the 50/Ja beef centered over who was biting Pac. Has it really gotten so bad that rappers are trying to come up by sounding like Freeway?
Wonderful
*OH OH OH OH OH!!! OH OH OH OH!* Just about everyone has heard this track. The good news is that it's not quite as sappy as that Mesmerize crap. The bad news is that Ja felt obliged to make a track like this for obvious single purposes.
And just what the hell is the point of Ashanti's presence on this track? It's not hard to have a girl echoing R. Kelly in the background; the only thing required was a videocamera with audio feedback (especially that *OH OH OH OH OH* part).
What's My Name
Comparing Murder Inc. to Lazarus in the beginning of this track was surreal. I actually wouldn't mind if the entire label did the opposite of Lazarus and went from living to dead. Speaking of which, Murder Inc. is being investigated by the Feds for various crimes. If a murder attempt on 50 is not one of the allegations, I'll be disappointed.
To say Ja Rule's "What's My Name" doesn't match DMX's or Snoop's would be putting it succinctly. The hook is "J A R ... U L E." God this is terrible.
If I hadn't heard New York before, I might have just stopped right here. Good thing that's the next track.
New York
Ja was lucky enough to get Fat Joe and Jadakiss to lace the same track while both are basically at the height of their popularity off big singles.
This is a pretty tight track, and whoever did this beat earned their dough. This is clearly single material, which makes me wonder what necessitated Wonderful at all. I assume Ja was trying once again to appeal to thugs and mainstream pop lovers at the same time.
Of course, Clap Back was a pretty good track on the last album and we know how that venture fared.
Stripping Game (Skit)
Skits are just stupid. Especially one that tries to explain the history of stripping. These guys are barely rappers, let alone historians.
Manual
This seemed like a much better candidate for a hip-pop single than Wonderful to me. The beat's nice and easygoing. Ja attempts to ruin an ok track in which he raps relatively well (for Ja) through obnoxious singing on the hook. Reminds me of Marshall.
"40 to love and I wanna serve / that body like Serena's with less curves." I know Ja's got some sort of inferiority complex going over his lack of street cred, but Serena the tank truly would kick his ass.
Get It Started (Featuring Claudette Ortiz)
For some reason, this track prominently mentions Claudette Ortiz on reviews, tracklists and downloading titles. Maybe I missed something, but just who the hell is Claudette Ortiz? Were we supposed to know who this bitch is? She sounds like your typically terrible background bitch.
There was only one thing left to do. I actually can't tell you how good/bad this track is because I was too busy looking at images of Claudette Ortiz. And now I understand why the Murder Inc. crew would do whatever it took to get her in the studio.
R.U.L.E.
"Nobody can do it like I can do." Well that goes without saying, probably because it wasn't worth saying at all.
True Story (Skit)
This is the stupidest damn skit. They're really playing this comeback crap. If these guys had been more concerned about making good music than proving they were coming back, my ears might not be bleeding right now.
Caught Up
One time I read somewhere that people think this little boy Lloyd's got skills. if the contest requires looking like an 18 year old and singing like a 5 year old, I won't argue.
In the hook some random girl and Lloyd are singing back and forth to each other. But I actually had to listen hard to make sure that the entire hook wasn't done by Lloyd. I wish I was kidding.
Gun Talk
Other than New York, this track is so much better than anything else so far. The hook is tight, the beat rocks, and Ja's first verse is actually impressive. Where was this all album?
But this wouldn't be a Murder Inc. album if they didn't botch a good thing by adding that Freeway biting Black Child to totally slaughter the middle of the track. For the last verse, Ja Rule reverts to lame lyrics.
Never Thought
Everything about this track misses. The beat's too boring, Ja's too boring, and I'm sick of the same hooks by the same females.
Life Goes On
"How many brothers fell victim to the streets..."
How could I not listen to the Pac track? Same title, same idea, not even close to the same rapper or same track.
The Ja version features Trick Daddy and Chink Santana. The two of them sound somewhat similar. And let's just say Chink Santana couldn't hold the jockstrap of Juelz Santana.
Weed (Skit)
Like I'm actually going to listen to this.
Where I'm From
Let me guess: New York?
Seriously, this track's all right. "If I'm wrong then pardon me. / I'm just tired of poverty. / Why them niggas in the hood never hit the lottery? / Unless they go lottery..."
Even Lloyd is ok on this one. I don't understand why Ja is incapable of putting more tracks like this on an album in place of dregs like Never Thought.
Bout My Business
A whole stable of Murder Inc scrubs shit all over this track. It's probably harder work to be this bad than it is to be ok.
It makes me cringe to think just what they did to get on Murder Inc. Why not send these cats West and have them make a name for themselves at the expense of a couple G Unit casualties?
Passion
Ja sings "Nobody loves me." As if it's any wonder why that might be?
Then he sings, "I know you love me, but I'm still waitin for the love to come hug me." I would qualify that as perhaps being the gayest thing ever said on a rap track, except this really isn't rap, and Elton John is on the #1 selling rap album of last week.
And basically that's the problem with Ja Rule. There are plenty of rappers who can make hard songs and rap ok enough to matter. In fact, they're a dime a dozen.
So that seems to leave Ja trying to find a niche with this singing bullshit that he's been doing after Venni Vetti Vecci. But what's the point in trying to find a niche if it's not worth having?
The guy could run a Marathon with Bonecrusher on his back and clean out NYC Michael Corleone style on the same day, but he'd still be considered a pussy with this formula. R.U.L.E. doesn't change that, and if you burned yourself a CD of all the banging tracks over Ja's career, you wouldn't even recognize him.
# posted by Jay Dub @ 1:47 AM 
