The Last Temptation

Thug Lovers For Ya'll! As expected, Ja comes back with the fire and the album is produced by Irv Gotti.

Murder Inc./Def Jam franchise artist Jeff "Ja Rule" Atkins has become the undisputed King of the street anthem. The 24 year-old's fiery, melodic baritone growls incite everyone from the grittiest thugs to the prissiest ghetto-fab glamour queens to chant along in a tribal-like call-and-response with his tracks like "How Many Wanna Die?," and the Murder Inc. featured "We Don't Give a Fuck." Other hip hop heavyweights such as LL Cool J, Da Brat, Redman and Method Man and Warren G. have enlisted his services to raise the level of intensity on their songs with his highly distinguishable vocals.

After years of paying his dues and learning firsthand about the ills of the music industry with the underground, New York based rhyme crew, Cash Money Click (not to be confused with New Orleans Cash Money Records), things finally fell into place for the Hollis, Queens native in 1998. It all started with his breakthrough, show stealing appearance on Jay-Z's club scorcher "Can I Get A," (for which he wrote the hook). Almost overnight, he went from being on the threshold of superstardom to simultaneously having the streets and the mainstream firmly in his clutches with his superior debut, Venni, Vetti Vecci.

Living up to the translated title (he came, he saw, he conquered), Venni almost immediately went platinum, debuting at number three on the Billboard pop charts and spawning the runaway blockbuster "Holla, Holla." But to let Ja tell it, a hit record can sometimes be a curse.

"A lot of muthafuckas be like 'why don't you make another record like "Holla, Holla?'" laments the father of two. "As an artist, I want to elevate. It's about selling records, but it's also about making records you feel in your heart."

Recorded solely in LA to get a more universal vibe feeling, Ja's supreme sophomore LP, Rule 3:36, solidifies his spot as a hip hop icon while bringing everything you would expect. Soul bearing stories of Ja's tribulations and triumphs, life, party joints that'll have club-goers flooding dance floors across the country, and thought provoking explications of the hood's state of affairs.

"Being a competitive muthafucka, I challenged myself to come crazier and harder," says Ja of his latest musical expedition.

"Between Me and You," featuring newcomer Christina Milian, is already raging uncontrollably across the airwaves. Ja's playful ode to lust and late night creeping is almost hypnotic, a tasty sample of things to come. Exchanging verses with Def Jam family member Jayo Felony and fellow Murderers Black Child and Ty Murder over a revamped sample of Barry White's

"Ecstasy" is guaranteed to blow out your car speakers on the way to the hip hop dancehalls. But what would a Ja Rule album be without those murdeeeerrrrrrrrrrrous cuts we crave? "Six Feet Underground" is pure bedlam on wax. With a sample from the classic Broadway hit Evita, you can almost see the venom dripping from his teeth as the line slinger shoots barbs towards his haters over maniacal synths and violins. "I would love for nothing more than to see my niggas eat with me/But my enemies wanna see me (six feet underground)."

Speaking of those haters, the album's title is dedicated not only to them, but the people who Ja Rule holds dearest to his heart as well. "I got my set of rules," he explains. "One of them is 'He who believes in Ja shall have everlasting love. He who does not shall not see life, but the wrath of my vengeance.'"

And living up to the unwritten rule of superstardom, Ja is conquering multiple mediums. Ja has made his introduction to Tinseltown, starring in and participating in numerous film projects. To top things off, Ja is part of designer Calvin Klein's national campaign. While all this may seem overwhelming to the average person, Ja is excited to be living out his dreams. "All I ever wanted is for people to look at me and be like 'that's Ja,'" he says with humility. "Now that I'm in their sights, I'm going give them something to look at as well as hear."