R.U.L.E.
R.U.L.E. is the sixth studio album by American rapper Ja Rule; it was released on November 9, 2004, by The Inc. and Def Jam. The album debuted at number 7 on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, selling 165,000 units in its opening week. The album was certified Gold for shipments more than 500,000 copies in the United States. Singles from the album include "Wonderful" featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti; the top 20 song "New York" featuring Jadakiss and Fat Joe, and the song "Caught Up" featuring Lloyd. The album was also made in a heavily edited version removing profanities , drugs and violent content: it removes the skits "Weed" and "Stripping Game". This version of the album became the most edited album other than his previous album "Blood in My Eye" (2003). Critical reception. "R.U.L.E." garnered favorable reviews from music critics but some questioned if this was a return to form after the disappointing "Blood in My Eye". K.B. Tindal of "HipHopDX" called the album Ja's best since "" and "Pain Is Love", concluding that "The Inc. will always be Murder Inc. no matter what and Ja will always be at the head of the fam so get used to  it, he's back." Steve 'Flash' Juon of "RapReviews" gave a mixed review, stating "[T]his is not an overwhelming strong album lyrically, but it's a pleasant enough one to listen to musically - and from Ja Rule that's enough to get by." Timothy Gunatilaka of "Entertainment Weekly" found love ballads like "Passion" and "Wonderful" suitable for Ja Rule, concluding that they "suggest he might want to stick to raspy romanticism." AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier said that the album continued the depletion of Ja's relevance in hip-hop, stating, "And so the downfall goes—tragic, indeed, or not, depending  on how affecting you find the pathos at work." Nathan Rabin of "The A.V. Club" found Ja's reliance on emulating "2Pac's tortured-thug persona" to craft mildly amusing "overwrought melodrama" overlong throughout the record and exacerbated further through "anonymous production, irritating skits, and [the kind of] raspy shower-stall warbling." Track listing. Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Notes Sample credits