By throwing in some thug ballads for the radio, Ja Rule suddenly found himself catapulted to superstar status in 2001 following the unexpected success of "Between Me and You" and its subsequent string of follow-up hits. A string of hits so long, in fact, it set up his third album, Pain Is Love,... Show More [+]

By throwing in some thug ballads for the radio, Ja Rule suddenly found himself catapulted to superstar status in 2001 following the unexpected success of "Between Me and You" and its subsequent string of follow-up hits. A string of hits so long, in fact, it set up his third album, Pain Is Love, perfectly — a day didn't pass between releases when Ja wasn't a ubiquitous presence on urban radio, or pop radio for that matter. So when Pain Is Love hit the streets, it had enormous momentum, with not one but two singles — "Livin' It Up" and "I'm Real" — all over radio. Furthermore, the commercial brilliance carrying the album applies to not only Ja's sales numbers but also his music. Like he had done with Rule 3:36 in 2000, Ja and producer Irv Gotti only made slight modifications on Pain Is Love, and as before, those modifications were more commercial-minded than artistic. The thug-meets-diva duets are here again, including some great collaborations with Jennifer Lopez and Missy Elliott, and the thug anthems are still here, including "So Much Pain," a truly stunning collaboration with 2Pac that works better than it should. What makes this a slightly better album than Rule 3:36, though, is the album's consistency. There's no longer an obvious distinction between the love songs and the thug songs, and much of that credit goes to Gotti's production. And to top that off, the thug songs here top anything off Rule 3:36, somewhat refuting the assumption that Ja had turned into a sissy. What keeps this album from being a true work of art, though, is the lack of artistry. Sure, Ja and Gotti have the commercial side of the music figured out, and prove with "Livin' It Up" that they are practically shameless when it comes to crafting a sure-fire radio hit (this time interpolating Stevie Wonder's "Do I Do"). Such calculated concessions to the masses, however, make you wonder whether Ja is following his muse or the paper trail.

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