The Last Temptation

by

Ja Rule

Edit

I dedicate this editorial to the people who insist on hatin' Ja Rule. I won't front he is bascially a pop/rap artist, but he plays that role well. I mean some rappers aren't meant to be Hard. Does everyone have to be a gangsta rapper who doesn't give a f about everything. He might have come out hard to us in the beginnin' but Ja has the right to change .It's called Creative Freedom! But the one thing that crosses my mind is the fact that everyone claims Ja is mimicin' 2pac and Biggie and even Dmx,which is totally false. Ja is his own man and God gave him his voice and his ability to add some R&B into his Hip-Hop flow. If you notice Ja Rule has started a semi-trend of addin' the singin' flow. Look at Fabolous new hit single " It's my party". He practically sang that whole song. And the big issue, Dmx. I can tell the difference between the 2. X is more grimey,more rugged. Ja is gentler but still off the hook. X would have never done 'Put it on me", 'I cry", and "I'm Real remix" featurin' Jennifer Lopez.

Anyway, I give his latest album a 4 because at times through out the cd ja brings back that" Venni vetti vecci" image with "popn","DESTINY,Connected.IT's worth while.Stop Hatin'! MTV softens him evenmore and you must learn to respect him. If you want HARDNess then besides Venni vetti vecci this is close enough.Go cop it. WE all know deep down we love Ja. It's Murda!

When Jay-Z surfaced Ja Rule in 1999, you could tell he would be a big mainstream sucsess. This theory was proven correct on his debut album "Venni Vetti Vecci" which was pure thug rap. He then felt the need to change his style and guest performances from the likes of Jigga, to female artists including the likes of Ashanti. This was purely for commercial sucsess, because on the radio Ashanti is always going to come off really well. The 2000 album "Rule 3:36" was just bareable. "Pain Is Love" was played in my CD player once, and has been collecting dust on the rack ever since. "The Last Temptation" is the shortest yet and the worst yet.

I awarded it three stars becuase Ja Rule has done a good job on tracks like "Thug Lovin'" and "Murder Reigns". Other than that, he's really not bringing anything new to the rap scene. It is blataintly obvious that he bought this out so he could rack a few million so he could have an expensive Christmas. If you read the productional credits in the booklet, you'll see that a lot of samples were taken from tracks written by the likes of Ralph Saadiq. Ja Rule has falen to the level where he doesn't even write his own stuff.

It's quite insulting to major rap fans who spend almost all there money on rap, that Nas would put himself at such a questionable descion to perform with Ja, seeing as he is a rap legend. The use of 2Pac was a good idea, but Ja Rule has to face it: He's not 2Pac and he's not Biggie Smalls. Ashanti was also featured with these rap greats and is possibly the only female to cme off well on this album, besides Charlie Baltimore. I loo forward to her debut album "The Diary". Chink Santana and Alexi are really go nowhere rappers.

I won't be buying anything with Ja Rule on it until he stops the pop and goes back to rap. Don't spend your money on this please, but buy the new Snoop or Jay-Z albums. Ja Rule is just a commercial pop artist at the momment. And why wasn't Irv Gotti featured?