Ja Rule: It ought to be a great show if he shows up

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Staff Writer

Ja Rule with Tweet I-94 Summer Jam 6 p.m. Sunday 50th State Fair, Aloha Stadium $26 526-4400

"I'm going to retire after two more albums," Rule announced to a crowd of journalists gathered for a BET Awards news conference earlier this month. When more than a few reporters rumbled that Rule had to be joking, Rule insisted he was serious.

Rule and R&B vocalist Tweet will co-headline I-94 FM's Summer Jam concert at the 50th State Fair Sunday evening. At least we think they are. Former headliner Ashanti and Amanda Perez bailed out of the Summer Jam this week for unconfirmed reasons (perhaps it was the makeshift Aloha Stadium parking lot stage they'd be singing on, or the potential for trouble from patrons of the beer garden next door).

Come to think of it, you might also want to rethink rushing out to buy tickets to Summer Jam for the simple fact that one or both of the acts might not even bother showing up. With the luck Summer Jam organizers had with their acts this week, we wouldn't be surprised if Ja Rule decided to retire within the next two days.

The king of the "sensitive thug duet" — Rule has partnered for chart-topping hits with the likes of Jennifer Lopez ("I'm Real," "Ain't It Funny"), Vita ("Put It On Me") and Christina Milian ("Between Me and You") — said he would release his fourth CD, "The Last Temptation," this fall, and one final album before leaving music to "do a lot of films." Not that Rule is losing his touch musically.

His most recent album, "Pain Is Love," debuted at the top of the Billboard album chart last October, the same spot and same month that his second CD, "Rule 3:36," entered the chart a year earlier. "Always On Time," a duet with Ashanti, hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year. Rule also was nominated for three 2001 Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album. Still, the silver screen has been calling loudly lately.

After his cameo as a street racer in 2001's "The Fast and the Furious" received positive reviews, Rule immediately signed on for the yet-to-be-released umpteenth Steven Seagal "comeback" film, "Half Past Dead." His acting prospects look a bit more encouraging. Besides teaming up with "Furious" star Vin Diesel in "Riddick," a sequel to "Pitch Black," Rule is rumored to be under serious consideration for the starring role in a suddenly Vin-less "Furious" sequel.

Born Jeffrey Atkins and raised on the mean streets of Hollis, Queens, Rule, 25, has Murder Inc. label head Irv Gotti to thank for turning him into one of the label's and hip-hop's best-selling acts. He's also the record exec most responsible for Ashanti's recent chart-topping debut album and singles. Gotti's first idea for getting Rule noticed was adding a verse of his scratchy vocals to Jay-Z's 1998 single, "Can I Get A ..." When the Gotti-produced single became a smash hit later that year, record buyers began asking why Rule didn't have a CD of his own.

Rule entered the studio with Gotti at the helm the next year for his debut CD, "Venni Vetti Vecci," which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard album chart and eventually went platinum.

Since then, Rule's unique rasp has become one of the most recognized in rap. Props for that must go to Rule's digestible hip-hop/R&B hybrid lyrics boasting that even the baddest of thugs can possess a romantic side. And it can't hurt that all of it comes bundled in a swoon-inducing muscled 5-foot-6 package of pure charisma, machismo and a smile.

Ja Rule may, indeed, never return to hip-hop once he goes Hollywood.