Blood in My Eye
Studio album by Ja Rule
Released	November 4, 2003
Genre	Hip hop[1]
Length	44:56
Label	Murder Inc. Island Def Jam Def Jam
Producer	Irv Gotti(also exec.) Ja Rule(also exec.) BlackOut Chink Santana Jimi Kendrix Rebel Scott Storch Sekou 720
Ja Rule chronology
The Last Temptation (2002) Blood in My Eye (2003) R.U.L.E. (2004)
Singles from Blood in My Eye
"Clap Back" Released: October 14, 2003

Blood in My Eye is the fifth studio album by American rapperJa Rule, released on November 4, 2003, byMurder Inc.,Island Def Jam Music Group andDef Jam. The album was originally planned to be released as amixtape. The release took place during the feud withShady/Aftermath rappers50 Cent,G-Unit,Eminem,D12,Dr. Dre,Obie Trice, along with artists includingDMX andBusta Rhymes and was entirely dedicated to dissing them. The album was named afterGeorge Jackson's radicalbook of the same name.Hussein Fatal of Outlawz,Cadillac Tah, James Gotti,Sizzla,Black Child, Young Merc, D.O. Cannon, Shadow, and Sekou 720 are listed asguest appearances on this album. Reviews for the record were mixed, with critics skeptical of Ja's lyrical skills as a hardcore rapper.Blood in My Eye debuted at number 6 on theBillboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 140,000 copies in the United States.^[2]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	45/100[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[4]
Entertainment Weekly	C[5]
The Guardian	[1]
Rolling Stone	[6]
RapReviews	5.5/10[7]
The Source	[8]

Blood in My Eye garnered generally mixed or average reviews frommusic critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received anaverage score of 45, based on 8 reviews.^[3]

Beccy Lindon ofThe Guardian called the record "a rough, back-to-basics rap album", noting that it is filled with guest verses from hardcore rappers and devoid of R&B artists, concluding that it is "more concerned with answering critics and continuing the backbiting with theDeath Row camp."^[1]Jon Caramanica, writing forRolling Stone, commended Ja for breaking away from his usual love duet formula to deliver shots at other rappers but said that "the boasts here feel utterly tired. And so does the attitude."^[6] Michael Endelman ofEntertainment Weekly found the album to be "a dull slog with a dearth of hooks and a surfeit of gangsta clichés."^[5]

Steve 'Flash' Juon ofRapReviews criticized the narrow-minded lyrical takedowns and suggested that Ja stick to mainstream R&B/hip-hop duets, despite crediting the production and collaborations with Hussein Fatal, saying that, "All things considered though, this short 45 minute album will not solve Ja's problems, nor will it restore him to chart dominance."^[7]AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier called it "a very focused and heartfelt album", much more than his debutVenni Vetti Vecci, but felt that Ja worked better as a mainstream rapper crafting "catchy pop-rap tracks with grimy posturing and singalong hooks." He added that listeners would not get much out of the record, saying "there are only two quality songs, a lot of redundant trash-talking, and an overall sense of ridiculousness that pervades."^[4]

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.^[9]

 • (co.) Co-producer

Sample credits^[9]

• "Murder Intro" contains dialogue from the motion picturePaid in Full.
• "The Crown" contains a sample of "Solid as a Rock", written byMiguel Collins andBobby Dixon, performed bySizzla.
• "The Inc Is Back" and "Remo (Skit)" contain a sample of "The Streetz", written bySean Jacobs,Jason Phillips,David Styles, andKasseem Dean; performed byThe Lox.
• "Blood in My Eye" contains a sample of "Slippin' Into Darkness", written byThomas Allen,Harold Brown,Morris Dickerson,Leroy Jordan,Lee Levitin,Charles Miller, andHoward Scott; performed byWar.
• "The Wrap (Freestyle)" contains a sample of "Learning Burn", written byAlbert Johnson,Kejuan Muchita, andTajuan Perry; performed byMobb Deep.

• Ja Rule – executive producer
• Ashanti – additional vocals (2)
• Milwaukee Buck – engineer (2-14), mixing (1, 5, 6b, 8, 11, 13, 14)
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• DURO – mixing (2, 3, 6a, 7, 9, 10, 12)
• Irv Gotti – executive producer, mixing (1-6, 8-14), engineer (11)
• Terry "T-Mac" Herbert – assistant engineer (2-10, 12-14)
• A&R [A&R Administration] – Hector "Rick Boogie" Aviles
• A&R [A&R Assistant] – Errol "BeEezie" Vaughn Jr.
• A&R [A&R Direction/Joint Venture] – Darcell Lawrence
• A&R [A&R Direction] – Chris Gotti
• A&R [Assistant A&R Direction] – Fred "Nickels" Moore, Tood "ShortMan" Simms
• Illustration [For MelaninInc.com] – Andre LeRoy Davis
• Management – Murda Management
• Photography By – Anthony Mandler
• Producer – BlackOut (6) (tracks: 9), Chink Santana The Gawd, Irv Gotti (tracks: 1, 2, 4 to 15), Ja Rule (tracks: 1, 5, 6b), Jimi Kendrix (tracks: 2, 6a, 7, 12), Rebel (tracks: 8, 11), Scott Storch (tracks: 3), Sekou 720 (tracks: 10)

• List of Billboard number-one R&B albums of 2003

• 2003 albums
• Ja Rule albums
• Def Jam Recordings albums
• Albums produced by Scott Storch
• Albums produced by Irv Gotti

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Album articles lacking alt text for covers
• Album chart usages for Germany4
• Album chart usages for Scotland
• Album chart usages for Switzerland
• Album chart usages for UK2
• Album chart usages for UKR&B
• Album chart usages for Billboard200
• Album chart usages for BillboardRandBHipHop