Ever since the whole East Coast-West Coast battle, rap as a whole has toned down to a more subdued, laid-back style.

Among the rappers showing a soft side, Ja Rule has sported that image most obviously, specifically with his heartfelt 2001 LP Pain is Love.

With his latest release, The Last Temptation, the Queens rapper waters down the hip-hop style almost to the point of dormancy.

The tracks are drab and boring, with very little creativity and not much enthusiasm.

Ja shows no signs of elevating his style beyond the methods that have proven to work in the past.

Where many rappers have evolved and matured, Ja Rule doesn't prove that time has tweaked his poor rhyming skills.

He still relies on sexual innuendoes and references to his own record company.

"Thug Lovin'," the first single, shows this blatant usage of sex and fame.

With original bad boy Bobby Brown, the mid-tempo track speaks to a lost love who doesn't know what she's missing.

With a dull song to spite her, Ja better not expect a make-up anytime soon.

The track abounds with as many trite carnal comments as any of his past hits, such as last year's "Always On Time."

Just like the former hit, the ruling queen of mediocre vocals, Ashanti, makes her appearance on this CD as well.

Taking the female counterpart on "Mesmerize," Ashanti trades lines with Ja, describing the wonders of a happy couple. This song just furthers the if-it-ain't-broke logic, hoping to create another track to fill the next Now That's What I Call Music compilation.

In addition to Ashanti and Mr. Whitney Houston, the Rule also brings along a few other guest stars to assist him on some of the tracks.

Rapper Charli Baltimore, another Murder Inc. mistress, duets with Ja on the disco-fused title track.

Nas also appears on the CD as the latest member of Irv Gotti's empire on the track "The Pledge Remix."

With a cool vibe, the song showcases something that doesn't really appear elsewhere on the CD -- talented rapping.

Nas proves, after dropping just one verse, that true rhyming is not all sex and guns; there's an actual art to it.

Mr. Rule has yet to learn that, though.

The Last Temptation is simply an obvious attempt at marketable rap -- light enough for the stomachs of white-bread Wal-Marts, but with just enough obscenities and sex to still sound thug.

When Ja yells "It's Murda!" in many of the tracks, he's not lying.

It is murder -- to the ears and to any sense of talent. Grade: D