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The Odyssey Of Rule
Article by:
Jason Fleurant
 The hardest thing to do is coming from the very bottom to the peak of the top, just to be forced back down to start over. This is the journey, Odyssey if you will of Jeffery Atkins. Better known to fans and foes alike as Ja Rule. The Queens, NY native has seen and undergone renowned heights of success and failure all the while keeping his composure, waiting for his time.
In all veracity Ja’s career plainly reads like a contemporary Shakespearean inspire calamity. Or more like the classic Homer tale called “The Odyssey”. Murder Inc as a whole has been to hell and back and back again. Yet there is something different this time around, some sort of new energy that was absent in 2004 when he returned from out the so-called “shadows”. Dropping his six-studio album “R.U.L.E” (which was classic Ja Rule music), spawning a major anthem with “New York, New York” there was something missing. I couldn’t really put my finger on it until now.
What that album lacked was the “Re-Birth” of Ja Rule, of Murder Inc as a whole. It was still the same Ja but not a innovative purified through the fire of sorrow Ja. His man and he’s crew endure a lot of struggle ordinary people would be crushed by. His label owing and friend (Irv Gotti) was going toe to toe with the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Ja himself was still feeling the hostile response of hate while his adversary was at the apex of his game. At top using the very “style” Ja created. Some would go to say that 50 Cent was out Ja Ruling Ja Rule.
So even though Ja concentrated on putting out an album where he didn’t get caught up in the beef and just made the hits, it still fell short in some eyes. Sells were considered bad even though he still manage to sell 900,000 copies. The comeback album was measured a failure, not because people expected him to come out swinging. More like they were expecting something powerfully, undeniable. Ja once again fell back into “obscurity” as his foe grew in power and fame.
Fast forward to 2007, Ja Rule is on the verge to try it again. Many are understandably counting him out. You hear the screams the chants all over the net and streets “Ja needs to give it up, Ja Rule is over!”. Yet like I said this time, this time there is something different. This time his enemy seems to be steadily falling from grace and Rule seems reborn. It’s like watching some genius transplanting his mind into the body of a newborn baby. Ja is like a pristine artist that has been through the storm and knows what’s to come. You couldn’t ask for a better position than the Underdog.
Irv and Ja have seen the top, rested and built castle’s there. They know the road needed to travel back. Only their no longer tired and warn out by the hate or a Federal investigation. They’ve caught the second wind. You know the saying “you have your whole life to record your first album” and then everything else is being timed. Luckily due to all the harsh times, Rule has been able to really fall back and go in without time restrains. No having to rush into the studio to record a bigger hit than the last, no longer having to compete with other rappers, or to respond to the growing buzz of foes. It’s a new beginning for Ja Rule. Much like how Odysseus was forced on this long, vicious journey back home to the throne he created, Ja has traveled the same road.
Odysseus/Ja Rule Battle (just for kicks people)
The Trojan War: The everyday fight to be the hottest artist
Poseidon: 50 Cent/Interscope/ Feds
Lotus Eaters & Polyphemus the Cyclops: The fan’s which he conquered with hits like “New York, New York”, ”Caught Up”
Sirens & Scylla: The idea of just giving up
Things have truly changed this time around. This time we aren’t looking at a man going against the world. No, more like a man who has fought the world and is enhanced, stronger. The “minor” success of R.U.L.E served a vast purpose the untrained eye may of overlooked. It allowed Ja Rule an opportunity for a second chance at relevancy. It showed that it doesn’t matter how hard you fall, just that you get up. Ja Rule has been renewed. You can hear it in his voice on his new single “Uh Oh” and can see it in his face as he does interviews. The journey has been long and hard yet he can now see land while aboard his worn down ship. His Kingdom (don’t take that literally stans and think I’m calling him King of New York) awaits him. Right now it is all or nothing, and I don’t know what the future holds for Ja let alone Hip-Hop. I will nonetheless say this; it’s a new day and the perfect time to make your move.
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