After his first hit Holla Holla (1999), Ja Rule quickly became the best-selling rapper of the new millennium. As the standard bearer of the wildly popular Murder Inc (a sub-label of Def Jam run by producer and label boss Irv Gotti), he dominated the US charts, mainly thanks to duets with Ashanti, Christina Milian, Lil Mo and Jennifer Lopez. Yes Rules sandpaper voice and tough looks contrasted
… perfectly with the lovely voices of the singers. His album Pain Is Love (2001) was sold millions of times. On the follow-up album a number of guests show up again to keep the record musically interesting, this time including Ashanti and swing beat star Bobby Brown. Ja Rule's voice and Gotti's sound are now so familiar that the record is quite predictable. Ja Rule is bursting with self-confidence and as always has a big mouth, but always with an eye to commerce. Like so many hip-hop CDs, The Last Temptation is also released in a neat 'clean' version. (MS)more
