(I did not conduct
these interviews, so please do not email me asking about them)
Upon hearing the unprecedented
disclaimer about his signature sound at the beginning of Ja Rule's new LP, The
Last Temptation, it becomes clear this is no ordinary Rule release.
The very first thing on the album is this message from the raspy MC: "Let
me let these n-----s know I ain't gotta spit sh-- at these clowns. Right now I'm
about to go ahead and continue to make my motherf---ing hits and sh-- and do
what I do. You know, that motherf---ing platinum sound, that Murder Inc.
sound."
At once a nod to the style that has earned the rapper his superstar status and a
thinly veiled reference to the haters who have accused him of being soft because
of that style, the intro sets up both The Last Temptation hailed by all
involved in making it as Ja Rule's "return to the streets" and Ja
Rule himself as taking a self-reflective journey. The Murder Inc. MVP appears to
be grappling with a way to both maintain his street cred and combat the
criticism external and perhaps from within that he's sold out.
Ja
Rule explains his album in the studio
The Last Temptation, due November 19, serves as Ja's attempt to publicly define
himself in a way that hadn't been a priority for him before. Ja was content to
make the music he wanted to make, and if the songs turned into crossover hits or
club bangers, then fine. But that wasn't the intention.
"A lot of my records that I made, I don't feel that
they were club records, but they became club records because people felt
them," he explained.
There wasn't a message behind those tracks which Ja calls his "feeling
records" just good music. That's changed on The Last Temptation. Behind
the dramatic, "last-of-a-dying-breed" sentimentality of the title
seems to be Ja Rule's hope to recapture something he may have lost over the
years.
"I named my album The Last Temptation because I feel
I am the last temptation of hip-hop. N---as were breaking and popping, breaking
into the train yards and tagging on the train. I was little then, running with
the big n---as. So any rappers younger than me right now ain't lived
that. They don't know the true culture of hip-hop.
"Hip-hop is not just rapping," he continued. "It's the culture,
the break dancing, the graffiti art. It's not just about getting the money
that's kind of how hip-hop is now, they don't care about the culture, they just
want to get the money."
Quick to
recognize that, to others, it may appear that he has motivations other than pure
love of the game, Ja Rule said, "I know a lot of
other hip-hop artists like Mos Def or Pharoahe [Monch] may see me as that kind
of artist, but they gotta understand that we live the culture, too. Just because
we don't practice it to that extent now and don't try to teach it, I think it's
[the younger generation's] job to go get 'Wild Style' and 'Beat Street' and 'Krush
Groove' and watch them and say, 'Wow! I wish I could have been involved in some
of that.' "
The glory of mainstream success still seems to matter to Ja, though. He took
just 12 days to record The Last Temptation (less than half the time Pain Is Love
took and about one-fifth the time of Rule 3:36) aiming to make his self-imposed
deadline, spurred by the gauntlet thrown down by now-nemesis DMX.
"I
didn't have to rush the album ....""
"I didn't have to rush the album," he
said nonchalantly. "I was sitting back in my house
and minding my business, about to take a little hiatus. I was just relaxing
[when I heard DMX] mouthing on the radio, talking all of this crazy talk. So I
said, 'This guy can't be serious.' I got to the office and said, 'Yeah, I want
his [release] date. Whatever date he got, give it to me.' "
This was, of course, back when X's album, titled It's Not a Game, was slated to
drop on November 19. Now it's not scheduled to come out until 2003.
The former rhyming mates turned performing pugilists began beefing when, in an
interview with MTV News, DMX accused Ja Rule of snubbing him in public and
becoming too "Hollywood." X then released "They Want War," a
record charging that Ja Rule is a homosexual, a diva and a style-biter, though X
has since distanced himself from the whole beef.
When asked about "They Want War," Ja Rule laughed hard, tossing his
head back in a manner that belied its effect on him, and then quipped squarely
that he's never heard it.
"What's the record getting, like, two spins?" he
asked dismissively. "My people, my public they
know he is a clown right now and since I already bossed him down, everybody
knows he is a clown."
DMX
"They Want War"
It's Not A Game
(Def Jam)
Nevertheless, on the same album where Ja Rule says he doesn't have to "spit
sh-- at these clowns," he addresses the situation first thing and proceeds
to return the barbs in a verse on "F--- With Us." He raps, "Sh--,
you acting like I shot your dog, f---ed your girl/ Crack addict, you know the
n---a Rule ain't having it," and "Your fascination with me is
flattering/ But n---a get off my di--/ I make hits, I ain't battling."
Why is the co-creator of "The Formula," as Murder Inc. calls it
the chart-topping combination of a cuddly love song, a sweet-sounding female
vocalist and a rugged, shirtless rapper so stymied by DMX that he
simultaneously fuels their feud and pays lip service to its impact on him? Ja
seems to be trying to rise above the battle, yet he can't help but stoke the
flames.
It seems fitting to recall "The
Last Temptation of Christ," not only for the titular reference, but because
in the controversial novel by Nikos Kazantzakis (and film directed by Martin
Scorsese) Jesus' pivotal conflict is deciding, while on the cross, whether to
give into the temptation to live a life of ease and comfort offered by the devil
or go along with God's plan for him, which requires great courage and sacrifice.
Despite the literary parallels, Ja wasn't trying to do a concept album.
"It's
a real album ... a look into my perspective of things"
"It's a real album," he said. "A
look into my perspective of things, how I feel, how I've been seeing things
going since my last three albums, or the last four years. It's a lot of sh--
that's been going on, a lot of tension buildup, a lot of hatred buildup, a lot
of success, a lot of fun. It's all in there."
There are "Formula" songs with Ashanti and new Murder Inc. pop singer
Alexi, though they're produced this time around by Chink Santana, who's taken
the reins from the departed 7 Aurelius. "The Pledge," a recent release
featuring Ashanti, new Murder Inc. affiliate Nas, and Tupac, also appears on The
Last Temptation.
Murder
Inc. feat. Nas
"The Pledge" Remix
Irv Gotti Presents ...
(Murder Inc.)
In opposition to Ja's earlier message concerning preserving the culture of
hip-hop over the "get money" mentality, "F--- With Us" is a
bounce track that boasts about getting 20-inch rims and "grindin' for the
love of this paper."
The second single, following "Thug Lovin' " featuring Bobby Brown,
will be "Mesmerized," a signature duet with Ashanti. And even though
it hasn't been shot yet, the video treatment has been agreed upon: the decidedly
un-gutter concept of Ja Rule and Ashanti as Danny Zuko and Sandy from
"Grease."
"Murder Me," which is exclusively about sex, makes use of Tony! Toni!
Tonι!'s "Anniversary" as the melody for the chorus sung by Alexi,
while of "Wanted" Ja said, "I'm flexing a
lot of lyrical muscle on this joint." This is his gangster oeuvre:
"They all want me dead or alive/ But they'll never take me alive/ I'll get
even before I die," he says on this dirty South bounce track.
"Thug
Lovin'"
The Last Temptation
(Murder Inc.)
While he may portray himself as a
"wanted" man on wax, Ja Rule couldn't help but reveal his party-rapper
good spirits when he talked about the The Last Temptation.
"The haters been out there, but I'm laughing at these clowns and still
having a good time," he said. "My
toughest challenge was going to the studio and making this album in the short
time I had and getting out all of those feelings and emotions that I really
wanted to get out. I really had to do some Buddhism type sh-- to get into myself
real quick. But it was deep. It was real."
