Going out on a limb, I’m going to say 85% of the TSS readers have outright hated on Ja Rule, despite having never owned or heard one of his actual albums. Openly unabashed by the Murder Inc.’s murderous radio rampage during the the turn of the new millennium, I still have a hard time taking this five-foot-nothing 2Pac copy serious. Still, Jeffrey dropped consistent hits for around four years and eventually sold upward of six million albums – a feat unfathomable by today’s standards, so credit is due nonetheless.

Either way, aside from a few news stories and concurring two-year bid, Ja’s once raspy rule has dwindled so far from the spotlight his crossbreed of thug-pop had become merely an afterthought. That is, until the NYC native’s new single for Pain Is Love 2 appeared both out of place and thin air at YN’s place with 200-plus comments. All of which were basically skeptics like myself, who couldn’t help but embrace this seemingly “Real Life Fantasy.”

Obviously curious, I gave into the hype and found 50′s foe had actually done what I once thought unthinkable and delivered a jam doubters can openly rock with the windows down. Reminiscent without resentment, the former superstar unravels over a Queen-sampling 7 Auerelius-production and describes how dreams don’t always end how you pictured – especially when you piss them away over gun charges and easily-paid debts to the IRS.

You still probably won’t see me copping used copies of Venni Vetti Vecci anytime soon, but this definitely a good note to go out on for The Rule.

Ja Rule – “Real Life Fantasy” (Produced By 7 Aurelius)