Ja Rule

Jeffrey Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.

Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla". From 2000 to 2004, Ja Rule had several hits that made the top 20 of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, including "Between Me and You" with Christina Millian, "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" with Jennifer Lopez, "Always on Time" with Ashanti, "Mesmerize" also with Ashanti, and "Wonderful" with R. Kelly and Ashanti. During the 2000s, Ja Rule was signed to The Inc. Records, which was formerly known as Murder Inc. and was led by Irv Gotti.

Early life

Atkins was born in the Queens borough of New York City. He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his mother, health care worker Debra Atkins, and grandparents. At the age of five his sister died from breathing complications, leaving him as an only child. He attended Public School 134 in Hollis, a school he has described as having a predominantly black student body. He has said got into many fights at the school because of his small size, so his mother transferred him to Middle School 172 in Glen Oaks, which he has described as a "white school.

Acting career

During his break from rapping, Ja Rule had an appearance as another street racer in The Fast and the Furious with Vin Diesel. In 2004 He appeared in several movies including Back in The Day with Ving Rhames and Pam Grier and Half Past Dead as Steven Segal's Co-Star. He also starred in the movie The Cookout with Queen Latifah.

In 2009 Ja Rule was featured in the film Just Another Day. In the movie about two rappers at either end of their rap careers, Ja Rule plays himself.

Family

In April 2001, Ja Rule married Aisha Atkins whom he met in junior high school. They have a daughter, Brittany, and two sons, Jeffrey, Jr. and Jordan.

Legal issues

In 2003, he allegedly punched a man in Toronto, who later sued Ja Rule. The issue was settled out of court.

In 2004, police investigated whether a feud involving The Inc. led to fatal shooting outside a nightclub party hosted by Ja Rule and Leon Richardson were, they thought he shot Proof of D12.

On July 1, 2004, Ja Rule was arrested with Don Rhys for driving with a suspended license and possessing marijuana.

In July 2007, Ja Rule was arrested for gun and drug possession charges along with Lil Wayne, and Don Rhys who served eight months in prison during 2010 for attempted possession of weapon stemming from the arrest. New York Supreme Court judge Richard Carruthers rejected Ja Rule's argument that the gun was illegally obtained evidence. On December 13, 2010, Ja Rule received a two-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to attempted possession of a weapon after the aforementioned 2007 concert. On March 8, 2011 Ja Rule's surrender date for his two year prison sentence was set for June 8. His publicist said that Ja Rule will turn himself into authorities. He will go to Rikers Island first, then be sent to a state facility in Upstate New York.

Controversy

Eminem

The beef started after 50 Cent signed to Shady Records and Aftermath. Ja Rule stated that he had a problem with Eminem and Dr. Dre of signing someone he had beef with. On November 19, Ja Rule and Irv Gotti were special guests on Star and Bucwild's morning show on Hot 97 NYC. Irv Gotti had some 'legal documents' stating the order of protection 50 'has on him'. Ja Rule threatened, that if 50 Cent released any diss track, he would take action towards both of them. However, Dr. Dre was the one who produced 50 Cent's vicious track "Back Down" in 2003 from the album Get Rich Or Die Tryin', which not only called out Murder Inc., but 50 Cent referenced Ja Rule's mother, wife and kids. In the song 50 rhymes: "Your mami, your papi, that bitch you chasin' your lil dirty ass kids, i'll fuckin' erase them.

Busta Rhymes (who earlier appeared on a remix of "Holla Holla") decided to join the beef when he was featured on the track "Hail Mary 2003", with Eminem and 50 Cent. The song, a remake of Tupac Shakur's song "Hail Mary", was done partially as a response to Ja Rule's remake of another Tupac song, "Pain" (retitled "So Much Pain") - the rappers felt that Ja could never match Tupac (even going as far as stating that "[Tupac] would never ride with Ja"), and so dissed him for trying to "imitate" the deceased rapper. Eminem prevented Ja Rule from appearing on any of the "new" Tupac songs he produced, including those on Loyal to the Game.

The beef took it to the next level when Ja Rule released his infamous diss "Loose Change" (actually released before "Hail Mary") in which he insulted 50 Cent and as well Eminem calling him "Feminem" and Dr. Dre as "bisexual" and claimed that Suge Knight knew of Dre "bringing transvestites home". It includes also the lyrics insulting Eminem's mother Debbie, his then ex-wife Kim and even referenced his then 8-year-old daughter Hailie: "Em you claim your mother's a crack head and Kim is a known slut, so what's Hailie gonna be when she grows up?"

Music Career

Atkins began his rap career in 1994 with his hip hop group Cash Money Click. He told Curtis Waller of MTV News that his stage name "Ja Rule" came from a friend who addressed him by that name; other friends called him "Ja". In 1995, he made his first appearance on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build" which featured Jay-Z and DMX, who were also in their early stages of their careers. In 1998, he was a featured guest on Jay-Z's hit single "Can I Get A..." along with Amil.

Venni Vetti Vecci

His debut album Venni Vetti Vecci was released in 1999. Singles included "Holla Holla" and "It's Murda" with Jay-Z and DMX. "Holla Holla" reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart. Venni Vetti Vecci was certified platinum by the RIAA on July 12, 1999.

Rule 3:36

Ja Rule returned in 2000 with his new single "Between Me and You", which featured Christina Milian. "Between Me and You" reached #11 on the Hot 100, and "Put It On Me" reached #8 on the Hot 100. Ja's second album, Rule 3:36, was released on October 10, 2000. Rule 3:36 debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified triple platinum.

Pain Is Love

During the late summer of 2001, Ja Rule released his third studio album, Pain Is Love. "Living It Up", featuring Case, reached #11 on the Hot 100, and "Always on Time", which featured Ashanti, reached #1 on the Hot 100. Like its predecessor, Pain Is Love topped the Billboard 200 and was certified triple platinum. By 2007, 3.6 million copies of Pain Is Love had been sold. Ja Rule could also be heard on Artists against AIDS Worldwide's single "What's Going On."

The Last Temptation

The Last Temptation, Ja Rule's fourth album, was released on November 19, 2002. It featured the two Billboard Top 10 singles "Thug Lovin'" (#8) and "Mesmerize" (#2), another duet with Ashanti. The Last Temptation debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200. The Last Temptation was certified platinum in December 2002.

Blood in My Eye

Blood in My Eye although intended to be a mixtape, was his fifth album and the last released under the "Murder Inc." label, which renamed itself "The Inc." several days after the album release. It spawned the one and only hit "Clap Back" which reached #5 on the Top 100 and won him the Source Awards'"Fat Tape" song of the year. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart selling 139,000 copies in its first week of release. It has since sold over 468,000 copies in the U.S. In October 2003, Ja Rule met with Minister Louis Farrakhan, who wanted to intervene and prevent escalating violence in the feud between Ja Rule and 50 Cent.

R.U.L.E.

Ja Rule's sixth studio album R.U.L.E. was released in November 2004 debuting at number 7 selling 166,000 copies in its first week of release. Its lead single was "Wonderful" featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti which peaked on the Billboard Top 100 Singles at #5. The single was followed by the street anthem New York featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss which charted at #27. The third single was the love song "Caught Up" featuring Lloyd and Ashanti which charted at #15. The track "The Manual" was also a single in the UK where it peaked at #9. The RIAA certified R.U.L.E. Gold on January 14, 2005, and by October 2007, the album had sold 658,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Hiatus, departure from Def Jam

On December 6, 2005, The Inc. released Exodus, a greatest hits album whose only new tracks were the song "Me" and intro and outro tracks. Exodus was the last album on Ja Rule's contract with The Inc. After the release of this compilation, Ja Rule took a hiatus from recording music.

In 2005, The Inc. Records came under investigation because of drug trades by Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, who was associated with Irv Gotti. This led to Def Jam Recordings refusing to renew The Inc.'s contract. From 2005 to 2006, Gotti searched for other labels until finally reaching a deal with Universal Records (ironically part of the same company as Def Jam).

In 2009, Ja Rule recorded a new song with Brazilian singer Wanessa, "Fly", sung entirely in English despite the singer's nationality. The song also received a version named "Meu Momento", also featuring Ja Rule, in which Wanessa sings in Portuguese. "Fly" was released as a single in Brazil in April. The song was ranked number #1 on Crowley/Brazil, and it was nominated in the "Hit do Ano" ("Hit Song of the Year") category at the 2009 MTV Video Music Brasil awards show, where Ja Rule and Wanessa performed together for the first time.

Renaissance Project & Pain Is Love 2 (2010–present)

It had originally been announced that Ja Rule would release a new studio album in the summer of 2010. The album was originally going to be entitled Venni Vetti Vecci 2010, named after his 1999 platinum selling debut album, but the album is now titled The Renaissance Project. However, the album may now instead be a double disc or single disc having 14–15 songs. Ja Rule expects to release The Renaissance Project in early 2011 before he starts serving his 2 year jail sentence. In November 2010, it was announced that Ja Rule would be part of the Summerbeatz tour held in Australia, replacing Soulja Boy.

In February 2011, It was announced that Ja Rule is working on another album called Pain Is Love 2, naming it after the original 2001 triple platinum album (Pain Is Love). It will feature production from the producers on the original Pain Is Love album in order to "recreate magic". He had planned on releasing both of the albums on June 7, although later decided to delay the release date in order to allow more time to perfect the "level and quality of the records" and to avoid "doing an injustice to his fans", according producer 7 Aurelius.

DMX

Ja Rule started off as friends with DMX, as well as Jay-Z. DMX, Jay-Z and Ja Rule were part of a group at the time named Murder Inc. (The name was later used by Ja's producer Irv Gotti for his record label.) They recorded songs under the name together. DMX and Jay-Z also guest starred on Ja Rule's first album on the track "It's Murda". Eventually Ja Rule's feuds with Busta Rhymes, Dr. Dre, and Eminem went away. DMX and Ja Rule also recently ended their feud at VH1's 2009 Hip Hop Honors.

Discography

Venni Vetti Vecci (1999)

Rule 3:36 (2000)

Pain Is Love (2001)

The Last Temptation (2002)

Blood in My Eye (2003)

R.U.L.E. (2004)

Pain Is Love 2 (2011)[44]

Renaissance Project (2011)

Awards and nominations

Year Award/Nomination

2001 Source Hip-Hop Music Award Won for Single of the Year – "Put It on Me"

MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Rap Video – "Put It on Me"

2002 MTV Video Music Awards Won for Best Hip-Hop Video – "I'm Real (Murder Remix)"

MTV Video Music Awards nominated for Best Hip-Hop Video – "Always on Time"

American Music Award nominated for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Artist

Grammy Awards nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group – "Put It on Me"

Grammy Awards nominated for Best Rap Album – Pain Is Love

Grammy Awards nominated for Best Rap/Song Collaboration – "Livin' It Up"

World Music Awards Won for World's Best-Selling Rap Artist

BET Awards Won for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist Artist

GQ Men of the Year Award Won for Musician of the Year

Teen Choice Awards Won for Male Artist of the Year

NAACP Image Awards Won for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist

Soul Train Music Award nomination for Best Rap/Soul or Rap Album of the Year – Pain Is Love

2003 Source Award Won for R&B/Rap Collboration of the Year – "Thug Lovin'"

American Music Award nomination for Favorite Hip-Hop/R&B Male Artist

Grammy Awards nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration – "Always on Time"

2004 Source Award Won for Phat Tape Song of the Year – "Clap Back"

2009 MTV Video Music Brasil nomination for Hit do Ano (Song of the Year) – "Fly"