The Last Temptation

12/05/2002 8:00 PM, LAUNCH
Dan Leroy

Once, Ja Rule's desire to follow in Tupac's footsteps as hip hop's tortured thug of choice seemed all-consuming. But achieving a crossover stardom that eluded Pac seems to have made him rethink that goal. His fourth album is a relatively brief and resolutely pop-oriented affair, with more gruff singing than rhymes and less violent, existential dilemmas.

The Last Temptation's sunny one-two punch, copying the formula that drove Pain Is Love into the stratosphere, is surprisingly weak: the resurrected Bobby Brown adds little to "Thug Lovin'," which samples Stevie Wonder much less effectively than "Livin' It Up," while the obligatory duet with Ashanti, "Mesmerize," only exposes both participants' vocal shortcomings.

That will be enough for the haters, but things actually improve from there, with "Murder Reigns," "Murder Me," and "Rock Star" nicely balancing tough talk and R&B ear candy. Having wisely concluded he'll never match Pac--or a number of contemporaries--on the mic, Ja has found his niche and is staying in it. The cost is what's left of his street cred, so this one had better sell millions, too.