Ja Rule:
Home > Music > J > Ja Rule > Discography
Albums | Compilations | Singles | Videos
 Ja RulePain Is Love Release Date: 2001 10 02 Label: Def Jam Rating:  |
The few rap-R&B hybrids on Rule 3:36 (2000) paid off large dividends by the time of Ja Rule's next album, Pain Is Love. A day didn't pass between the release of the two albums when Ja Rule's voice couldn't be heard on urban radio, and at the time of Pain Is Love's release in October 2001, he had not one but two singles getting nonstop airplay: "Livin' It Up" and "I'm Real," the latter a Jennifer Lopez song featuring him as a guest rapper. It should be no surprise then to discover that Pain Is Love follows the same formula that had made Rule 3:36 such a commercial success: craft some radio-friendly crossover singles, often featuring pretty young female R&B singers as romantic counterpoints, and then fill out the album with hardcore rap, often featuring Murder Inc.'s roster of secondary rappers, to sustain Ja Rule's thug reputation. Actually, this formula is fine-tuned on Pain Is Love to account for some exceptions -- for instance, the lead single, "Livin' It Up," interpolates Stevie Wonder's "Do I Do" for its crossover-R&B aspect, while the title track recycles an old, generally unheard 2Pac verse to great effect -- and a significantly more balanced album is the result. Plus, there's enough strong material here to encourage full-album listening, as the crossover singles no longer stand out apart from the hardcore rap filler to the degree that they did on Rule 3:36. Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
Tracks:
| Title | Composer | Time | |
| 1 | Pain Is Love (Skit) | 1:20 | |
| 2 | Dial M for Murder | Aurelius, De Young, Fyffe, Atkins, Lorenzo | 3:32 |
| 3 | Livin' It Up | Lorenzo, Atkis, Wonder, Mays | 4:17 |
| 4 | Inc. | Atkins, Douglas, Gill, Crocker, Lorenzo, Aurelius | 3:56 |
| 5 | Always on Time | Aurelius, Atkins, Lorenzo | 4:05 |
| 6 | Down A** B**ch | Lane, Aurelius, Lorenzo, Atkins | 5:31 |
| 7 | Never Again | Atkins, Aurelius, Lorenzi | 4:18 |
| 8 | Worldwide Gangsta | Lorenzo, Mitchell, Gill, Aurelius, Sledge, Crocker, Atkins | 3:20 |
| 9 | Leo (Skit) | 2:18 | |
| 10 | I'm Real [Murder Remix] | Lorenzo, Rooney, James, Lewis, Lopez, Aurelius, Atkins, Oliver | 4:12 |
| 11 | Smokin and Ridin | Miller, Aurelius, Bristonl, Lorenzo, Atkins | 4:51 |
| 12 | X | Lorenzo, Elliott, Aurelius, Keys, Atkins | 5:02 |
| 13 | Big Remo (Skit) | :19 | |
| 14 | Lost Little Girl | Lorenzo, Atkins, Aurelius | 5:00 |
| 15 | So Much Pain | Atkins, Shakur, Klugh, Lorenzo, Walker, Grusin | 5:03 |
| 16 | Pain Is Love | Atkins, Lorenzo, Aurelius | 5:04 |
Other Releases:
| Pain Is Love [Clean] Release Date: 2001 Label: Def Jam |
| Pain Is Love [Australia Bonus Tracks] Release Date: 2001 Label: Polygram |
Browse More Music:
![Add to My Music](javascript:addFavorite("0","R 549751","3","Ja+Rule%3A+Pain+Is+Love","http%3A%2F%2Fimages.starpulse.com%2FAMGPhotos%2Fpop%2Fcov75%2Fdre900%2Fe963%2Fe96329fpzf2.jpg","Music%2FJa_Rule%2FDiscography%2Falbum%2FP366173%2FR549751","My Music");){kind=link}