Ja Rule stumbles into commecialism
Ja Rule, Pac rip-off, yes, but a decent one, a 100 times better then Mr. DMX. This is his album that really made him blow up to where he is now, love it or hate it, you can’t deny Ja’s ability to make an album that has straight down the line good songs, Venni Vitti Vecci was a classic, and do to his commercialism, this barely touched Venni Vitti Vecci in it’s songs, but it still is a dope album given it’s commercialism.
1) Intro
Who knows why he does these.
2) Watching Me
Major props on the beat, this shoulda been full song, it get’s about 2 verses almost, and a chorus once, but it doesn’t play to it’s full potential, if it was longer, this would be about the best track on the album. The lyrics is all right, it’s the flow and the chorus that really tops this song, this song is tight to listen too, but it ends too soon.
3) Between Me and You/Feat. Christina Milan
I curse this song, because it showed Ja that if he put a female vocalist to do his chorus, that he could make a tight TRL song. The lyrics is good, but I want people to stop referencing Money Ain’t A Thang, a song I was writin’ fo’ my album used a reference, but I took it out after I hear it so much, and when Ja be makin’ these pop culture references, he sounds lame, I like him to remain as one of them abstract rappers. This song is ok to listen too, the beat is ok. It’s decent, I always skip it though.
4) Put It On Me/Feat. Vita
The album version don’t got Lil’ Mo, and it don’t really hurt it. This song I did actually like, the chorus is tight, everyone was tellin’ me it was so nasty, nobody had a clue what it meant. The lyrics is good, and Vita tries her best to top Trinia, she ain’t bad, but I wanted he to come in on the last verse. Rule get’s some good verse in. The beat is tight/ Check this song out, it’s real good, I think it got Ja started on his singin’ rappin’ though.
5) 6 Feet Underground
Me and this song have beef, some of my boys like this song, and the beat ain’t bad, but the little voice is so gay, it don’t need to be on here for any reason. The beat don’t work quite right with Ja’s rappin’, the chorus ain’t bad. Lyrically it’s ok, but in the end, no this song don’t work, skip it.
6) Love Me, Hate Me
I can’t tell whether Ja was listenin’ to Pac or DMX when he wrote this song, it sounds a little more like DMX, but it’s better then anything DMX has done lately. Ja sings the chorus, and I don’t know why, but I don’t mind him singin’. My big beef is, he doesn’t completely know what he’s talkin’ about fo’ the full song, well, he stays on a kinda topic fo’ most of it, he just goes all over. This song is tight, check it out, one of the best on the album.
7) Die/Feat. Tah Murdah, Black Child, and Dave Bing
I rarely like it when anyone from Murda Inc, they was on his last album fo’ the worst song, and on Pain is Love, they were on there too much fo’ me, and it wasn’t even that many songs. They do tight on this album, maybe it’s the beat. One of the most recognizable to me is Black Child, maybe because he was on Sticky Fingaz album, but I can actually recognize him now. Rule get’s the best lyrics on the album. I was trippin’ when I first heard this song, it’s just got a real tight feel to it, this is the best song on the album.
8) F--- You/Feat. 0-1, and Vita
Here’s the second best track on the album, used for Fast and the Furious, but given a different name, and different lyrics. This is a tight song to bump, the beats got like some horns or somethin’, Rule does one of his best flows on this song, and the chorus is tight as f---. I wanted a guest on here, but 0-1 is way to flat, and he needed to holla at Trick Daddy, or Busta Rhymes, someone who can feelin’ in they voice, Twista, Twista woulda been tight on this track. The track is still dope as it is, check it out.
9) I’ll F--- You Girl (skit)
I’m just gonna say somethin’ about this real quick, this skit sucks, and the beat tight, but Ja Rule is tryin’ to joke like he’s singin’ for pretend, now he sings all the time, that’s lame.
10) Grey Box (skit)
Coulda been left off the album.
11) Extasy/Feat. Tah Murdah, Black Child, Jayo Felony
Ja does gives his best flow in this song, it makes me wonderin’ why he’s always gotta growl on a song if he can flow like this, the beat is a real tight club beat, he sings the chorus, it ain’t bad. This is a good club song though, cause the guests come on, and it just adds to the beat, this song was produced and handled real well. Check this song out, lyrics is not the best, but check it out.
12) It’s Your Life/Feat. Shade Shiest
I did not listen to this track until a couple of weeks ago, I just kept avoiding it, I listened to almost the first verse, but I didn’t like it, so I kept switchin’ it, it still ain’t that good, it ain’t the worst, but it’s filled, the beat coulda been worked on, and this song woulda been a lotta tighter upbeat. Shade is ok, overall, this track don’t work, skip it.
13) I Cry/Feat. Lil’ Mo
The video sucked, the sample sucks at the beginnin’, but in the end, this jam is real tight. Ok, the song on the other hand, it needs to stay on topic, but it just goes around, he has some tight lyrics despite the inconsistency though, Mo does great with the chorus, at the end, it get’s a little annoying, but the song is still tight, a real solid track. Check it out.
14) One Of Us
He was bound to have a song that was thought provoking, he was bound to actually get closer to imitating Pac’s style. This song is probably considered blasphemous, but nothing surprises anyone anymore. The beat is tight, the concept, what if God was one of us, so he could understand what we went through, I can understand why he wrote it, but this song ain’t nice to God, it’s still tight. Check it out, unless you an easily offended Christian.
15) Chris Black (skit)
16) Rule Won’t Die
Not yet at least. The song has some ok lyrics, and I think it coulda gone on longer, it has a tight way of rappin’ quiet, then yellin’ on the verse, but he ended it too quick, check it out, I can’t warrant a listen more then once though, it just ain’t all that special due to it’s short length.
So this song is a little less then what I expected, considering his first album was one tight song after another, he doesn’t have as many jams on this one. The commercialism get’s annoying, but he comes up with at least one classic, track 14 on this album, that kinda comes near Venni Vetti Vicci, that one, track 7 and 8. Some of this album feels a little rushed, but I can easily give it an 4.
Dope Tracks: 9
Whack Tracks: 3
Skits Good: F---No!
OVERALL RATING: 4/5
REVIEWED BY: whitestain
ADDED: 2002-05-30
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