Venni Vetti Vecci

Background

In 1995, Ja Rule was one of the first artists to be featuring on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build". He then formed a group named "Cash Money Click" with his friends. The group then signed a deal to TVT Records. Under their association to TVT Records, the group has recorded two of their albums, releasing one single, before they're been dropped from the label. Ja Rule called it a "bullshit deal" as TVT, withheld the publishing royalties of the recorded material. While working as an executive producer for Def Jam, a record producer Irv Gotti was hired as A&R and convinced Ja Rule to signed a deal with the label.

Russell Simmons (who was the founder of Def Jam, CEO and a mentor for American rapper named Gotti) then decided to give Gotti from the label what he wanted it for so long. In 1998, Murder Inc. Records was founded by promoting and marketing Ja Rule, which places him on these songs among the artists with Jay-Z, LL Cool J, DMX, Method Man and Redman. Due to Ja Rule's exceptional performances on these songs, according to Def Jam; the representatives from the label it gave this album a release date.

Title

The album title, Venni Vetti Vecci refers to the Latin phrase "veni, vidi, vici", which means "I came, I saw, I conquered".

Music

The track, titled "Only Begotten Son", which alludes to the biblical verses John 3:16 and John 3:18, in which signifying "the father so feared the world that he left his only begotten son, in order to show that pain is love".

Artwork

The album cover of Venni Vetti Vecci features Ja Rule with his head turned upward, eyes closed and hands clasped together, standing in front of a white statue of Jesus. It has been interpreted as referring to the "only begotten son" metaphor.

Critical reception

Upon its release, Venni Vetti Vecci received generally mixed reviews. Ja Rule received several comparisons to fellow rappers Tupac Shakur and DMX. Writing for Vibe magazine, Shaheem Reid felt that the majority of the album was "hampered by colorless production", stating that Ja Rule "desperately needs tighter tracks to compliment his MC skills".

Commercial performance

Venni Vetti Vecci debuted at number 3 on the US Billboard 200, selling 184,000 copies in its first week. The album became a certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In November 2002, the album had sold 2 million copies worldwide.

Aftermath

Ja Rule became one of the biggest hip hop stars, along with Jay-Z and DMX. With their albums, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life and It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, which all gained notoriety and multi-platinum sales. Because of these albums, Ja Rule was able to tour with these artists as they formed a group titled, Murder Inc., who fittingly signed to Murder Inc./Def Jam. He was an opening act for Jay-Z and DMX on the 1998's "Hard Knock Life" tour, along with Memphis Bleek. The success of the album led to the credibility for Irv Gotti as a producer. The album, produced by Gotti was also overseen by Chris Lighty and Violator Management, ironically one of the companies that Ja Rule now has issues with.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Venni Vetti Vecci adapted from Allmusic.

Sequel

In 2008, Ja Rule released the mixtape titled The Atkins Files, Vol. 1. The mixtape was a comeback, after the long awaited from his album The Mirror. In this mixtape, he explains his plans on releasing a sequel to Venni Vetti Vecci.