It's Murdaaaaaa

The Passion of the Rule
written by JusHH

Quick, what’s the key components for a hit record… I’ll wait. Okay, soft melody over a hard bass line? Check. Catchy, harmonizing hook? Check. Rapping about swagger, your bank account and how you are simply irresistible to the opposite sex? Check. If that’s the case then all you guys selling records owe a percentage of your royalties to Ja Rule.

I liked Ja Rule before I even knew who he was. As a kid, my TV stayed on The Box and I fell in love with this one particular black and white video. This dude who rapped first just blew the song out the water. A few years later, I was following Ja Rule’s career as Def Jam’s best kept secret. He popped up on the Streets is Watching soundtrack, and the B-Side to all of Def Jam’s releases in ’98. I remember reading this article with Lyor Cohen and he was discussing what made him sign Ja. He talked about a group called Cash Money Click and how Ja caught his attention on the song “Get the Fortune”. My jaw dropped because I had no idea that it was Ja Rule rapping in that black and white video this whole time. No wonder I took to him so quickly. I got even more excited for his debut album and it didn’t disappoint. Venni Vetti Vicci is still one of my favorite albums in the collection and Ja was once one of my favorite rappers. But something went wrong. Rule 3:36, his sophomore effort, went 3x platinum.

Ja made way too much money. We all know where this story is going.

Rule and Irv found a nice little formula that would help them sell a whole bunch of records. Enter Ashanti and the 6 million songs that they did together. Enter JLo, with her “Riding the 6 Train Hip-Hop/R&B” records and enter all of the scratchy voiced sing song flow that Ja rode for the next 6 years. At first, it was well received. Most understood it as an attempt to crossover and make money to put food on the table. But then it was clear that these records were no longer the anomaly but the new norm, his core audience began to buckle.

Enter 50. 50 Cent represented not only a breath of fresh “gangter-ism” in the face of fluffy rap music, but he represented everything we all wanted Ja Rule to be. He saw the glaring contradiction between Rule’s new music and how he still referred to himself as a murderer. He saw an opportunity and with the backing of Dr. Dre and Eminem, brought his personal beef in front of the whole world. It worked; the masses jumped ship and left Ja Rule’s new albums on the shelf.

But then a funny thing happened.

The G-Unit general’s lead singles began to have more singing in the hooks and the verses had slightly more harmony than before. Soon it seemed that 50 was selling all of his records by being more gentleman than gangster. No matter how many guns came out, it was “Candy Shop” that was keeping the lights on. And somewhere after The Massacre, 50’s honeymoon ended as fans once again rebelled against the formula. Not too long after that, a young upstart with a personal axe to grind with 50, criticized 50 for singing on songs to help him win. The battle between Game and 50 was the height of irony as Game even drew direct comparisons between 50 and Ja Rule’s careers. Shakespeare couldn’t have written it any better. 50 literally became the one man that he publicly despised the most, and was taken down by a future version of himself.

But then something even funnier happened.

Somewhere between Napster and iTunes downloads, record companies decided to narrow the pipeline and only allow music that they could guarantee would crossover, play in clubs and sell ringtones. Yep, this meant only soft melodies over hard bass lines, catchy, harmonizing hooks and rapping about swagger, your bank account and how you are simply irresistible to the opposite sex. In other words, doing exactly what Ja Rule was doing in 2001.

So 8 years after Rule 3:36 dropped, every artist uses Ja’s formula to get a hit record and make money. And fans no longer rebel. In fact we accept it. Chalk it up to being a necessary evil in the face of declining sales and ruthless record companies. Lil’ Wayne sold 1 million albums in one week off “Lollipop” and Kanye is doing an entire album without really rapping. But does Ja Rule get any of the credit? Any vindication for being a head of his time? No and no. Ja is still reduced to being a punchline. In fact, most people still make fun of his singing and how 50 ended his career.

It’s funny how times change.

So if you are a new rapper or an established artist looking to do better numbers and you’re worried about how you will be received if you start singing on your songs, you have nothing to worry about…

Ja did that, so hopefully, you wouldn’t have to go through that.