NEW YORK (Island Def Jam) - Guest Appearances on "
R.U.L.E." by R. Kelly, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Trick Daddy, Producers
Irv Gotti and Chink Santana, and The Inc. Records Artists Ashanti, Lloyd,
Black Child, and
Cadillac Tah
The Inc. recording artist - and businessman, movie star, fashion designer, philanthropist, and political activist - Ja Rule, whose first five albums have sold over 10 million combined units in the U.S. alone, is back with "R.U.L.E." (The Inc.), his hotly anticipated sixth album. "R.U.L.E." is the first CD ever to contain a free 2-month subscription to the wildly popular Xbox Live; the world's only unified online console games service that quickly and easily connects friends across the globe. The free Xbox Live 2-month subscription card is limited to the first 750,000 copies of "R.U.L.E."
The Xbox Live/R.U.L.E. partnership is being supported by a massive marketing and promotion campaign, including co-branded advertising on television, radio, print, and Internet outlets.
"R.U.L.E.," which arrives in stores November 9th, is off to a fast start with two hot tracks - "Wonderful" (featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti, produced by Jimi Kendrix and Irv Gotti) and "New York" (featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss, produced by Cool and Dre). "Wonderful," which jumps from No 18 to No 9-bullet this week on the Billboard R&B/ Hip-Hop Radio Monitor, and from No 20 to No 14-bullet on the Rhythmic Top 40 Radio Monitor, is also up to more than 60 million listeners on the Hot 100 airplay side.
In addition, "Wonderful" debuted at No 1 this week on the U.K. national chart. Fans can log on to MTV.com Nov. 3-9th for a "R.U.L.E." first listen care of "The Leak."
The promotional video for "Wonderful" is currently in heavy rotation on BET and MTV, which premiered "The Making of 'Wonderful'" back in September; the video was directed by visionary lensman Hype Williams (who recently shot the video for Ashanti's new single "Only U"). The clip for "New York," which premiered on BET's "Access Granted" two weeks ago, was directed by newcomer Juan Carlos.
R. Kelly, Ashanti, Fat Joe, and Jadakiss are not the only A-list Urban stars lending their talents to "R.U.L.E." In addition to Ashanti, several other artists who are signed to Ja Rule's label, The Inc. Records, are heard from: Lloyd is featured on "Caught Up" (produced by Jimi Kendrix and Irv Gotti) and "Where I'm From" (produced by Chink Santana, Demi-Doc, Artie Green, and Irv Gotti); Black Child is featured on "Last of the Mohicans" and "Gun Talk" (both produced by Chink Santana and Irv Gotti); and "Bout My Business" (produced by DJ Twinz) features Cadillac Tah, Black Child and Young Merc.
"R.U.L.E." also boasts guest appearances by City High's Claudette Ortiz on "Get It Started" (produced by Jimi Kendrix and Irv Gotti) and the team of Trick Daddy and Chink Santana on "Life Goes On" (produced by Santana and Gotti). The balance of the cuts on "R.U.L.E." comprise "What's My Name," "The Manual," "R.U.L.E.," "Never Thought," and "Passion," along with three skits: "Stripping Game," "True Story," and "Weed."
Adding to his roles as recording artist, businessman (founder of The Inc., FocusVision film company, and the Mojito liquor company launching next year), fashion designer (his Erving Geoffrey premium Urban wear line), philanthropist and political activist (his L.I.F.E. Foundation programs) - Ja Rule has also established a successful career in film. His return to theaters will take place on January 21st with the opening of his 10th movie, "Assault On Precinct 13."
Rule will make promotional appearances on BET "Top 25 Countdown" Nov. 6th, MTV 2 "Sucker Free Sunday" Nov. 7th, BET "106 & Park" Nov. 9th, TRL "Spankin New Music Week" Nov. 9th, "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Nov. 10th," "Last Call with Carson" Nov. 23rd, BET "Blueprint" Nov. 24th, and "Mad TV" on Nov. 27th.
Ja Rule's screen career began in 2000 with Robert Adetuyi's "Turn It Up," and has included such hits as Rob Cohen's blockbuster "The Fast and The Furious" in 2001, Don Michael Paul's "Half Past Dead" with Steven Segal in 2002, David Zucker's smash "Scary Movie 3" with the Wayans brothers in 2003, and the most recent back-to-back hits in 2004, "The Cookout" (with Queen Latifah) and "Shall We Dance" (with Richard Gere).
Director Jean-Francois Richet's "Assault On Precinct 13," his update of the 1976 movie of the same name, co-stars Ja Rule with Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Maria Bello, Drea de Matteo, and Gabriel Byrne.
