Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel includes: Ja Rule (rap vocals); Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliot, Case (vocals); 7 (various instruments); Anthony Mazza (guitar); Gimi Taylor (bass); Carl "Butch" Smalls (percussion). | | Engineers include: Brian Springer, Milwaukee Buck, Glen Marchese. | | Principally recorded at the Crackhouse, New York, New York. | | PAIN IS LOVE was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Livin' It Up" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. | | "Always On Time" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. | | Personnel includes: Ja Rule (rap vocals); Jennifer Lopez, Missy Elliot, Case (vocals); 7 (various instruments); Anthony Mazza (guitar); Gimi Taylor (bass); Carl "Butch" Smalls (percussion). | | Engineers include: Brian Springer, Milwaukee Buck, Glen Marchese. | | Principally recorded at the Crackhouse, New York, New York. | | PAIN IS LOVE was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. "Livin' It Up" was nominated for the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. | | "Always On Time" was nominated for the 2003 Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. | | Personnel: Ja Rule (vocals, rap vocals); Carl "Butch" Small (percussion). | | Audio Mixer: Irv Gotti. | | Recording information: The Crackhouse, New York, NY. | | Photographer: Jonathan Mannon. | | 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 | | Ja Rule has answered his calling. It's the club-friendly beat, the R&B hook and sing-songy, rough-edged vocals that seem to work for Ja. So he's sticking with it. With the backing of Murder Inc. label head (and this album's producer) Irv Gotti, Ja Rule picks up right where he left off with PAIN IS LOVE. Teaming up with the rhythmic crooner Case, Ja Rule reinterprets the Stevie Wonder classic "Do I Do" into the rap jam of 2001, "Livin' It Up." The album also features J. Lo's remix of "I'm Real," which Ja Rule helped turn into a hit. Missy Elliott drops in a verse on "Ex," and with the help of modern technology, Tupac lives on "So Much Pain." For Ja Rule, his pain means a lot more than love, it means success too. | | Ja Rule has answered his calling. It's the club-friendly beat, the R&B hook and sing-songy, rough-edged vocals that seem to work for Ja. So he's sticking with it. With the backing of Murder Inc. label head (and this album's producer) Irv Gotti, Ja Rule picks up right where he left off with PAIN IS LOVE. Teaming up with the rhythmic crooner Case, Ja Rule reinterprets the Stevie Wonder classic "Do I Do" into the rap jam of 2001, "Livin' it Up." The album also features J. Lo's remix of "I'm Real," which Ja Rule helped turn into a hit. Missy Elliott drops in a verse on "Ex," and with the help of modern technology, Tupac lives on "So Much Pain." For Ja Rule, his pain means a lot more than love, it means success too. |
Producer: Irv Gotti; Lil Rob; Ty Fyffe |
Musical Guests | | Jennifer Lopez | | Case | | Missy Elliott |
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