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Exodus

Ja Rule - Exodus Audio CD

A fair review of the Ja Rule "Exodus" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Ja Rule reviews here, or go back to the Ja Rule tabs.

Band: Ja Rule
Title: Exodus
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-12-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Exodus (Intro) - Ja Rule 2: Me - Ja Rule 3: Holla Holla - Ja Rule 4: It's Murda - DMX, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, 5: Put It on Me - Ja Rule, Vita 6: I Cry - Ja Rule, Lil' Mo 7: Livin' It Up - Case, Ja Rule 8: Always on Time - Ashanti, Ja Rule 9: Ain't It Funny [Murder Remix] - Caddillac Tah, J Love, Ja Rule 10: Thug Lovin' - Bobby Brown, Ja Rule 11: Mesmerize - Ashanti, Ja Rule 12: Clap Back - Ja Rule 13: New York - Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Jadakiss 14: Wonderful - Ashanti, Ja Rule, R. Kelly 15: Never Again - Ja Rule 16: Daddy's Little Baby - Ronald Isley, Ja Rule 17: Love Me Hate Me - Ja Rule 18: Exodus (Outro) - Ja Rule

A great collection
Any Ja Rule fan will appreciate this gathering of hardcore and pop hip hop tracks. This collection serves as a testament to a great run of multi-platinum hit records.

Dude! Best Compilation EVER!!
I hopped in the Civic and cruised up to Target and was totally stoked when I found this CD on sale for under a 10-spot. Dude, seriously!! I heard "Mesmerize" (featuring Ashanti, who is CRAZY hot BTW) on a recent PodCast and TOTALLY wanted it. I listened to it on the way home and was freakin' BLOWN AWAY. "It's Murda" is prolly my fav, thanks to Jay-Z (who is DA MAN. . . he ruled on that CD with Linkin Park!). But "New York" is also really radd, which features Fat Joe. Ja Rule's an AWESOME rapper, and this CD makes me wanna buy the rest of his CD's too. Seriously, this thing's SWEET. .

Solid collection with some very notable omissions
Although recently he has experienced an unfortunate commercial backlash at the hands of 50 Cent and others, I still find his hits as enjoyable as I did five years ago. Like DMX, Ja Rule is an artist that I spent countless hours listening to growing up, be it via the radio or his albums. Def Jam released "Exodus" in 2005 to highlight most of the popular singles from his first six albums. It's a little deceptive, because no where on the packaging is it labeled a compilation, but it is. Three songs come from his great debut, 1999's Venni Vetti Vecci. 2000's Rule 3:36 and 2001's Pain Is Love both supply three, these were his most successful albums and were marked by a softer, more R&B-influenced sound, often with female collaborators like Lil' Mo and Ashanti. 2002's similar The Last Temptation is represented with two hits, and 2003's Blood in My Eye and 2004's R. U. L. E. supply one and two songs respectively.

A lot of his finest work is here, and for someone my age, it brings back a few memories. Ja was always a very well-produced artist, and his softer R&B-styled hits were always very well done, as you can see on classics such as "Put It on Me" and "Thug Lovin'," among others. You also get a taste of his rougher, edgier side, on more recent songs like "New York. " He's not a supreme lyricist, but is fun to listen to and was often surrounded by good collaborators. He's a good artist with some great material in his discography, and it's almost sad to see how far he's fallen today. At least ten of these songs are some of the finest pop rap hits of the last decade.

So, for all this quality, why only three stars? Well, it's missing some very notable hits. To start, there's no "Can I Get A. . . ," his most recognizable collabo, and the excellent "I'm Real (Remix)" and "Down 4 U," both top five hits, are missing. Nor will you find "Rainy Dayz," "Down A. . B. . . h," "The Pledge," or even "Between Me & You. " Besides being some of his biggest hits, these are also among his best material, and should easily replace the unreleased songs or the more inconsequential ones like "Never Again" on the tracklist.

Honestly, this is a release of extremely great music, but I can't give it any more stars because of all the great stuff it missed. The tracklist was not well selected for this release. The music is great no doubt, so it could be a well-enjoyed purchase for anyone, but in this age where anyone can make their own compilations, such a poorly-selected one is obselete.

Explicit
. When the title said "Explicit Lyrics" that about sums it! I guess I never realized how many songs are actually edited for the radio.

Ja Rule - Exodus
But in order to do that, they needed Ja Rule and Ashanti each to release one more album a piece to fulfill the contract requirements, so they both put out greatest hits albums. In 2005 Murder Inc Records (also known as The Inc) decided to leave Def Jam and pursue a new record distribution home. Ja Rules album was called, "Exodus" which supposedly is the final goodbye as his Ja Rule gimmick and soon is coming out with his new albums under the name "Loki. " Anyway this album is all of Ja's hits since his first album til currently plus three new recordings.

1. Exodus (Intro) - 4. 5/5

2. Me - 3. 5/5

3. Holla, Holla - 3. 5/5

4. It's Murda (Featuring DMX & Jay-Z) - 4. 5/5

5. Put It On Me (Featuring Vita) - 3. 5/5

6. I Cry (Featuring Lil' Mo) - 3. 5/5

7. Living It Up (Featuring Case) - 4/5

8. Always on Time (Featuring Ashanti) - 3/5

9. Ain't It Funny [Murder Remix] (Featuring Jennifer Lopez & Caddillac Tah) - 3/5

10. Thug Lovin'(Featuring Bobby Brown) - 4. 5/5

11. Mesmerize (Featuring Ashanti) - 4/5

12. Clap Back - Minute+ Talking Intro - 4/5

13. New York (Featuring Fat Joe & Jadakiss) - 5/5

14. Wonderful (Featuring R. Kelly & Ashanti) - 4/5

15. Never Again - 4/5

16. Daddy's Little Baby (Featuring Ronald Isley) - 4. 5/5

17. Love Me Hate Me - 3. 5/5

18. Exodus (Outro) - 4/5

Overall:

70. 5/90

3. 5 Stars

Most of these tracks showed Ja's softer, radio-friendly side, the side that doesn't really appeal to me. But he also had some hardcore joints on here like "New York" which is probably his best and my favorite one of his tracks. If you own all of his previous albums like I do, just download the three new tracks. Now that his career on Def Jam is over, we'll see how his career shapes up when he releases his two new albums in 2007.

You can see a complete list of all Ja Rule discography, or go back to the Ja Rule tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.