R.U.L.E.

For the university, see Royal University of Law and Economics.

R.U.L.E.
Studio album by Ja Rule
Released	November 9, 2004
Recorded	2003–04
Genre	Hip hop [1]
Length	71:30
Label	The Inc. Island Def Jam Def Jam
Producer	Irv Gotti (also exec.) Ja Rule (also exec.) Cool & Dre Chink Santana Jimi Kendrix
Ja Rule chronology
Blood in My Eye (2003) R.U.L.E. (2004) Exodus (2005)
Singles from R.U.L.E.
"Wonderful" Released: September 27, 2004 [2] "New York" Released: October 27, 2004 "Caught Up" Released: May 24, 2005

R.U.L.E. is the sixth studio album by American rapper Ja Rule; it was released on November 9, 2004, by The Inc., Island Def Jam Music Group and Def Jam. ^[3] The album debuted at number seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling 165,000 units in its opening week. ^[4] The album was certified Gold and sold over 658,000 copies in the United States. ^[5] 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

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Entertainment Weekly	C+ [1]
HipHopDX	[7]
RapReviews	7/10 [8]
USA Today	[9]

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 Rule 3:36 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." ^[7] 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." ^[8] 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." ^[1] 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." ^[6] 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." ^[10]

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ^[11]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Inc. Intro"	Jeffrey Atkins	Ja Rule	2:20
2.	"Last of The Mohicans" (featuring Black Child)	Atkins Ramel Gill Andre Parker Irving Lorenzo	Chink Santana Irv Gotti	4:24
3.	"Wonderful" (featuring R. Kelly & Ashanti)	Atkins Lorenzo Kendred Smith Robert Kelly	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti	4:31
4.	"What's My Name" (featuring Ashanti)	Atkins Smith Lorenzo Bob James	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti	4:26
5.	"New York" (featuring Fat Joe & Jadakiss)	Atkins Joseph Cartagena Jason Phillips Andre Lyon Marcello Valenzano Lorenzo Lawrence Parker	Cool & Dre Irv Gotti [a]	4:18
6.	"Stripping Game" (skit)			1:15
7.	"The Manual"	Atkins Smith Lorenzo	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti Francion Corbett [a]	4:18
8.	"Get It Started" (featuring Claudette Ortiz)	Atkins Smith Lorenzo	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti	4:00
9.	"R.U.L.E."	Atkins Smith Lorenzo Phalon Alexander Brandon Casey Brian Casey	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti	3:37
10.	"True Story" (skit)	Richard Wilson	Dat Nigga Reb	0:30
11.	"Caught Up" (featuring Lloyd)	Atkins Smith Lorenzo Bryan Attmore	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti Boogz [a]	4:29
12.	"Gun Talk" (featuring Black Child)	Atkins Gill A. Parker Lorenzo	Chink Santana Irv Gotti	4:30
13.	"Never Thought"	Atkins Smith Lorenzo	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti	4:42
14.	"Life Goes On" (featuring Trick Daddy & Chink Santana)	Atkins A. Parker Maurice Young Lorenzo	Chink Santana Irv Gotti	4:52
15.	"Weed" (skit)	Wilson Artie Green	Dat Nigga Reb Milwaukee Buck Artie Green	1:55
16.	"Where I'm From" (featuring Lloyd)	Atkins Lloyd Polite A. Parker Green Demetrius McGhee Lorenzo	Chink Santana Demi-Doc Artie Green Irv Gotti	5:11
17.	"Bout My Business" (featuring Caddillac Tah, Black Child & Young Merc)	Atkins Raymond Grant Richard Grant Lorenzo Taheem Crocker Gill Jeffery Crocker Simon Haseley	DJ Twinz Irv Gotti [a]	3:39
18.	"Passion"	Atkins Smith Lorenzo	Jimi Kendrix Irv Gotti Boogz [a]	8:37

Japan bonus track

No.	Title	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Better Days"	Jimi Kendrix	4:37

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer.
• "Stripping Game (skit)" and "Weed (skit)" were removed from the edited version of the album.

Sample credits

• "What's My Name" contains samples from the "Farandole", written and performed by Bob James.
• "New York" contains interpolations from "100 Guns", written by Lawrence Parker.
• "Stripping Game (skit)" contains dialogue from the motion picture The Players Club .
• "R.U.L.E" contains interpolations from "They Ain't JE", written by Phalon Alexander, Brandon Casey, and Brian Casey.
• "Bout My Business" contains a sample of "Hogan's Thing", written and performed by Simon Haseley.

Personnel

• Ja Rule – executive producer
• Won "Engineer to the Stars" Bee Allen – engineer (1, 4, 6, 8–10, 15, 17)
• Milwaukee "Protools King" Buck – engineer (2–5, 7–9, 11–14, 16, 18), mixing (1, 6, 10, 15)
• James "J Mellow" Clark – keyboard and bass guitar (17)
• Francion Corbett – additional programming (7)
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Supa Engineer DURO – mixing (2–4, 7, 12–14, 18)
• Irv Gotti – executive producer
• Terry "T-Mac" Herbert – assistant engineer (2–4, 7–9, 11–14, 16, 18), assistant mix engineer (1, 6, 10, 15), additional vocals (1)
• Gavin "YG" Johnston – assistant engineer (1, 4, 6, 8–10, 17)
• James Johnston – guitars (7)
• Demetrius "Demi-Doc" McGhee – bass guitar (3, 7, 16), keyboards (13, 16), organ (3), strings (3), additional keyboards (3, 7, 11, 18), additional bass guitar (18), additional strings (18)
• Giselle Moya – additional vocals (13)
• Alexi Panos – additional vocals (11)
• Mimi "Audia" Parker – assistant mix engineer (8)
• Shawn Smith – guitars (13)
• Brian Springer – mixing (5, 8, 9, 11, 16, 17)

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2004–05) Peak position Australian Urban Albums (ARIA) [12] 10 Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [13] 34 Canadian R&B Albums (Nielsen SoundScan) [14] 8 French Albums (SNEP) [15] 116 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [16] 44 Irish Albums (IRMA) [17] 67 Japanese Albums (Oricon) [18] 46 Scottish Albums (OCC) [19] 56 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [20] 50 UK Albums (OCC) [21] 33 US Billboard 200 [22] 7 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [23] 3 US Top Rap Albums (Billboard) [24] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position US Billboard 200 [25] 150 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) [26] 46

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [27]	Silver	60,000^
United States (RIAA) [28]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Gunatilaka, Timothy (November 26, 2004). "R.U.L.E." Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
2. "Ja Rule: 'Wonderful'". Radio & Records . No. 1573. September 17, 2004. p. 43.
3. "R.U.L.E.: Ja Rule: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
4. D'Angelo, Joe (November 17, 2004). "News : Eminem Shreds The Competition, Even With A Premature Encore". Country Music Television. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
5. Mitchell, Gail (October 7, 2007). "Rapper Ja Rule releasing first album in 3 years". Billboard . Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved August 31, 2022– via Reuters.
6. Birchmeier, Jason. "R.U.L.E. - Ja Rule". AllMusic. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
7. Tindal, K.B. (November 24, 2004). "Ja Rule - R.U.L.E." HipHopDX . Cheri Media Group. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
8. Juon, Steve 'Flash' (November 9, 2004). "Ja Rule :: R.U.L.E. :: Def Jam". RapReviews. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
9. Jones, Steve (November 8, 2004). "Elton John's 'Peachtree Road': An unforgettable joy ride". USA Today . Gannett. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved August 8, 2011.
10. Rabin, Nathan (January 17, 2005). "Purple Haze/R.U.L.E." The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on May 14, 2022. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
11. R.U.L.E. (booklet). The Inc., Def Jam. 2004.
12. "ARIA Urban Chart – Week Commencing 7th March 2005" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association (784): 17. March 7, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2023– via Pandora Archive.
13. "Albums : Top 100". Jam! . November 25, 2004. Archived from the original on December 14, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2023.
14. "R&B : Top 50". Jam! . December 2, 2004. Archived from the original on December 6, 2004. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
15. "Lescharts.com – Ja Rule – R.U.L.E". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
16. "Offiziellecharts.de – Ja Rule – R.U.L.E." (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
17. "GFK Chart-Track Albums: Week 46, 2004". Chart-Track. IRMA.
18. "ルール" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
19. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
20. "Swisscharts.com – Ja Rule – R.U.L.E". Hung Medien.
21. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
22. "Ja Rule Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
23. "Ja Rule Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
24. "Ja Rule Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
25. "Year-End Charts: Billboard 200 Albums - 2005" . Billboard. Archived from the original on December 27, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
26. "Year-End Charts: R&B/Hip-Hop Albums - 2005". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
27. "British album certifications – Ja Rule – R.U.L.E." British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved May 7, 2015.
28. "American album certifications – Ja Rule – R.U.L.E." Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved May 7, 2015.