It’s no secret among rap fans that the memory of Tupac Shakur has been exploited and pillaged past the point of no return. On one hand, there’s his mother Afeni and his former Death Row Records boss, Suge Knight. Together, they’ve executive produced most of Pac’s posthumous releases (over a half dozen, to date) in an attempt to cash in on his dated catalog.
On the other hand, there are a handful of artists who have attempted to fill the void that Tupac left by completely aping his flow, delivery and image. With apologies to clowns like C-Murder, Krazy, Tha Realest and Lil’ Zane, nobody has the ersatz Tupac act down better than Ja Rule.
Ja Rule’s latest attempt to cash in on a ghost is called The Last Temptation. Never before has an album been so brazen in its attempt to rip off from a more talented artist. In keeping with Tupac’s Makaveli tone, all of the artwork and insert photos have Ja clutching rosaries, leaning inside a church or actually being “baptized”. This is a none-too-subtle nod to the first of Shakur’s after-death offerings in which he’s depicted in a crucifixion scene on the album cover.
The opening track is a duet with the washed up Bobby Brown. Thug Lovin’ had to be one of those concepts that sounded better on paper than on wax. Brown, the self-professed “King of R&B” hasn’t had a hit since the Ghostbusters II soundtrack in 1989. His scratchy wailing isn’t helped by the pathetic “girl, come back” subject matter or Ja telling us what a good lay he is.
Shockingly, even a more relevant and up-to-date guest shot by The Neptunes also fails. Their clunky production on Pop N****s is reminiscent of something found on a Master P album in the late ’90s. Ja does manage to squeeze in a famous Tupac line about “hittin’ b*tches likes switches” and a DMX diss amongst a slew of nonsensical ramblings of general thuggery.
Pac himself has a bizarre cameo on the remix to The Pledge. He only pops up at the end of the song, as Ja Rule gives something to all the Death Row fans who cream whenever their hero, Suge Knight is mentioned (“What up, Suge!”). Rule #4 of basic hip hop reads that you shouldn’t sample an established rap single. Ja goes three steps further by sampling the classic So Many Tears, stealing more word-for-word lines from Shakur and having the gall to claim that if Pac were still alive, the two of them would “ride together”. Nas also appears here and manages to outshine Ja with just one verse.
Now, not to be completely negative here, but can any one of my readers explain the allure of Ashanti? She is definitely fine. I’m talkin’ sell-your-soul fine. However, she’s completely a product of the studio. Have you ever heard her live? She has no range, no pitch and the benefit of a ton of post-production vocal “sweetening”.
Hey, it’s worked for J-Lo. Still, Ashanti adds nothing but a been-there-done-that feel to The Pledge. Even lower on the quality scale is the latest single Mesmerize. Ja Rule and Ashanti “sing” a duet that is so mind-numbingly awful, you’ll want to listen to it twice. Think of a car wreck you just can’t look away from. Ja’s lyrical content peaks with lines like “You be my down ass/wit’cha round ass”.
When Ja isn’t sampling from the Tupac catalog, he finds time to borrow liberally from many other familiar pop hits. Rule and his crew spit nothingness on Murder Me which leans on the sound of the older Anniversary. Elsewhere, the original Africa is on loan for Murder Reigns. Give the hook one listen and I’ll bet you’re asking for your money back.
OK, this isn’t all garbage, all the time. Charli Baltimore sounds really tight on the title track, which is actually a decent little party jam with an old-school vibe. New inmates on Tha Row Records, Eastwood and Crooked I sound ok on Connected.
That’s about as good as it gets, though. Ja Rule consistently lowers the bar with one horrid verse (rapping or singing) after another. When he’s not, it’s his array of guests who come down to his level. Here’s a keeper from Cadillac Tah: “Caddy gotta sprong/daddy long shlong/how we get it on/like Pong”.
