Ja Rule:
Exodus

Release Date: 2 January 2006

Reviewed By: Nilsel Altinsoy

The Game - The Documentary
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Ja Rule’s ongoing beef with his rivals 50 Cent and Eminem has brought nothing but controversy within the media. Rumour has it that Ja Rule released his album on the same day as Eminem to see who would sell more records; to his disappointment, Slim Shady sold the majority of units, leaving Ja in shame.

The tracks on his ‘Exodus’ album are nearly all previous released singles; singles which proved to be immensely popular. That said, ‘Exodus’ is more like Ja’s ‘Greatest Hits’ album, and thus great to reminisce to. ‘Living It Up’, featuring Case, was a superb start to summer 2000, with the nice summer breeze and the warm sunshine, the track was blasting out of clubs and convertibles everywhere. At 30-years-old, the rapper has not let his age effect his youth and his attempts to ‘play up’ to the ‘gangsta’ image. Yet, we know that this is not what Ja Rule is about - he illustrates it perfectly on ‘I Cry’, a dedication to his wife and kids. Ja is a family man at heart, so don’t let the gangsta image fool you; the man has much respect and loyalty to his family.

‘Thug Lovin’ was a huge hit featuring Bobby Brown, somewhat of a comeback track for Brown, making this single an unquestionably talked about track in hip hop. Critics slated Brown for sounding like he had a throat infection; but, on the other hand, it can be argued that this only gave the song a more unique-sounding hook. Either way, the track was a hit – another R&B/hip hop collaboration success under Ja’s belt.

Listening to ‘New York’, featuring major names such as Fat Joe and Jadakiss, gives you a sense of Ja Rule’s ‘gangsta wannabe’ attitude, rapping about where he came from and his social solidarity of growing up in New York. Whilst the track is a good listen, perhaps by featuring ‘Joey Crack’ and Kiss on the remix, Ja thought he would be able to hide behind these rappers in order to get at 50 – rallying 50’s other rivals to appear more domineering and threatening. Yet, it may all have been for publicity, for being the centre of attention in the hip hop media won’t do any harm to your weekly sales!

‘Wonderful’, featuring the ‘daddy’ of R&B, R. Kelly, and of course, songbird Ashanti, lyrically narrates about fame, money and women, and sees Ja and Kels questioning whether the girls only want them for their riches. Most will remember this track going in at No.1 on the UK charts a while back now, and so is its popularity that the track is still played occasionally on the airwaves, the same as the earlier hit, ‘Always On Time’, which again features Ashanti.

One criticism I have of the ‘Exodus’ album, is that it features too many guest appearances – highlighting Ja’s love of the collabos. However, this does not stop Ja from convincing us that he is a good rapper, proving his lyrical skills on ‘Never Again’, ‘Love Me, Hate Me’, and ‘Me’. His lyrics converse how he is sandwiched between two worlds, his young family, and his music along with the gangsta image he portrays, taking shots at 50 along the way. Overall, the album is a decent one, and one that should be in all Ja Rule fans’ collection.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Top 3 tracks:

14) Wonderful featuring R. Kelly & Ashanti

13) New York featuring Fat Joe & Jadakiss

10) Thug Lovin’ featuring Bobby Brown

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