Photo Highlights: Ja Rule at Baltimore Soundstage

Ja Rule performs at Baltimore Soundstage on Wednesday, January 9, 2019 in Baltimore, MD.

Ja Rule has hit records, and he has been on plenty of other artists hit records. A lot of them. That list of hit records include “Always On Time”, “I’m Real”, “Mesmerize”, “Ain’t It Funny”, “Wonderful”, “Livin’ It Up”, “Put In On Me”, “Between Me and You”, “Rainy Dayz”, “Holla Holla”, “Clap Back”, “Down A** Chick”, “New York”, “Can I Get A…”, “Thug Luvin”, and “Mesmerize”. I could continue, but you get the point.

The packed house at Baltimore Soundstage were primed by local artist JayMoney Hackett, Donnie Breeze, and Neffy before Ja Rule took the stage for the night. If you have ever been to a concert with multiple acts that perform before the headliner takes the stage, you know how important it is for the opening acts to have a solid showing. If not, the crowd gets bored and the energy in the venue is not what it should be when the headliner takes the stage. That was not a problem this night. Each artist had a large and responsive fan base at the show in support of them. A solid showing from each artist helped to keep the energy up in the venue.

DJ Don Demarco dropped the first instrumental of the night and Ja Rule bounded on to the stage. Soon after, that is when the sing-a-long begin. I don’t know if it was a strategic decision for Ja Rule to collaborate with a lot of female vocalists early on in his career, or if it was unplanned and just happened. However the decision was made, it was a good decision. To this day, his collaborations with female vocalist are his most popular and most loved songs. Throughout the night, the ladies in the crowd song-a-long to the hooks of “I’m Real”, “Always On Time”, “Between Me And You”, and “Put It On Me”, and “Mesmerize” to name a few. I’ve learned that at a majority of concerts I’ve attended if the women in the crowd are having a good time most likely everyone else in the crowd is having a good time.

When you have a deep catalog like Ja Rule, you can go many directions with your set list. In addition to the sing-a-long R&B influenced songs, Ja went into his rap focused catalog too including “Clap Back”, “Holla Holla”, and “Reign” to name a few.

Overall, it was a good show with plenty of familiar hits if you are a fan of early 2000’s hip hop. Ja Rule mixed it up and paced his show nicely.

Ja Rule is on tour into February. Here’s a list of upcoming confirmed dates:

Jan. 13 – Louisville – Mercury Ballroom
Jan. 16 – Warrendale, PA – Jergals
Jan. 17 – Silver Spring, MD – Fillmore
Jan. 18 – Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
Jan. 19 – Albany – Upstate Music Hall
Jan. 20 – Poughkeepsie, NY – Chance
Feb. 01 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom

If he is coming to a city near you, his show is definitely worth checking out. Photo highlights of the show follow.