Ja Rule Biography

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Jeffery Atkins (born February 29, 1976, Hollis, Queens, New York City), better known as Ja Rule (Jeffery Atkins Represents Unconditional Love Exists), is a rapper who made a string of popular hip hop songs in the 2000′s

Ja Rule is destined for greatness. Juggling roles within DMX’s Ruff Ryder camp and Jay-Z’s Roc-a-fella imprint, the 21-year old native of Hollis, Queens has been responsible for some of today’s hottest hip hop verses. Ja’s distinctive gravel-stone voice and fiery presence have blessed projects that include: “Murdergram” a single on the Streets is Watching Soundtrack; Jay-Z’s “Can I Get A…;” and “Gangsta Shit” from DJ Clue’s The Professional. Importantly, with the highly anticipated release of his debut album Venni, Vetti, Vecci (Latin for “He Came, he saw, he conquered”), Ja Rule establishes his place as a force to be reckoned with in today’s competitive environment.

Ja Rule was discovered and mentored by producer Irv Gotti, who produced records for Ja’s group, the Cash Money (later “Murder”) Click, and even rigged The Box’s vote-by-phone system so as to get the Cash Money Click’s video more airplay. In 1998, Gotti secured a distribution deal for his Murder Inc. Records label with Def Jam, and Ja Rule was groomed as Murder Inc.’s flagship artist. Ja served as hypeman for DMX, and was protege to Jay-Z and Irv Gotti. He appeared on the Jay-Z track “Can I Get A …”, which was his introduction into mainstream.

After his auspicious start on “Can I Get A…”, Ja wasted little time preparing and releasing his debut album, Venni, Vetti, Vecci, in 1999. It spawned the hit single “Holla Holla”, and a mildly received follow-up “Daddy’s Little Baby”. In 2000, Gotti released the Irv Gotti Presents the Murderers LP to introduce the rest of the Murder Inc. roster, including Vita, Black Child, Tah Murder, O-1, and Ronnie Bumps. The singles from the project, “We Don’t Give a What” and “We Murderers Baby” were minor hits on the Hot Rap Singles chart only. A third single, the Ja Rule solo track “How Many Wanna”, was a mild success, and was featured on the soundtrack to the film Light It Up.

Rhyming from the age of 16, Ja (taken from his initials Jeff Atkins) made his first vocal appearance on Mic Geronimo’s 1995’s “Time To Build,” the B-side to Mic Geronimo’s “Masta I.C.” The track’s producer and fellow Hollis, Queens neighbor, Irv Gotti heard of Ja rule from around the way and immediately enlisted his services. Building from the strength of his debut appearance, Ja and two friends, collectively known as “The Cash Money Click” signed an album deal with Blunt/TVT Records. Their first and only single, ‘95’s “Get The Fortune,” b/w “For My Click” saw rotation on New York’s Hot 97. After a great first effort, longtime friend Irv Gotti, Ja secured a meeting with Def Jam president, Lyor Cohen.

In a strange turn of events, Lyor, impressed by Irv’s street sense and business savvy, hired him as an A&R representative, whose first order of business was to sign Ja Rule to Def Jam. While people might recognize Ja for his party-styled contributions on Jay-Z’s smash “Can I Get A…,” his debut effort is a soulful salute to the street. Songs such as the introspective “Only Begotten Son,” the heartfelt “Daddy’s Little Baby,” and the inspiring “Race Against Time,” represent only a piece of Ja’s well-rounded freshman opus. “It’s really not a conquering of the world, but more a conquering of myself,” says Ja of his triumphantly titled album, which boasts 17 tracks featuring Jay-Z, DMX and Memphis Bleek.

Needless to say, Ja’s debut LP also boasts it’s healthy share of murderous material. The ominous “It’s Murda” features the reunion of Ja, DMX and Jay-Z, who proceed to lay competition to rest 3 the hard way. The alarming “Worlds Most Dangerous,” represents the official arrival of Ja as he declares a lock down on the hip-hop world. The album’s first single, “Holla, Holla” is destined to be rap’s next street anthem. A hard track established the perfect foundation for Ja’s newly-grafted doubled-up style and his infectious call and response hook: “Holla, Holla / All My Niggas that’s ready to get / Dollas, Dollas / Bitches know who get them a little / Hotta Hotta / Come on, if you rollin’ with me / Folla, Folla… It’s murda!”

“I’ve learned to deal effectively with the pressure,” says a confident Ja. In addition to his forthcoming album, Ja’s slated projects include: the Wyclef produced “25 to Life” from the Life Soundtrack, featuring Ja alongside Juvenile and Xzibit; Blackstreet’s first single “Girlfriend / Boyfriend” featuring Janet Jackson and Eve; and Dru Hill’s “You Are Everything.” “I don’t want people to think I’m piggy backing on anyone,” explains Ja, whose name should be swarming the streets this summer. “I want everyone to feel me for me. When my album drops, I want my fans to have a clear picture of Ja. That’s why I named my album Venni, Vetti, Vecci,” continues Ja. I’m clear where I want to go and what I want to do. The only thing that remains is for me to conquer my destiny.” And knowing Ja Rule, it shouldn’t take long.

Guest appearances: Ja’s popularity in the hip-hop industry was cemented even further in the summer of 2001, thanks to a hugely popular duet with Jennifer Lopez. Lopez had enlisted the help of Ja Rule and Irv Gotti in the production of an urban remix for her unsuccessful, pop-sounding song “I’m Real”. The “Murder Remix” of “I’m Real” contained vocals by both Lopez and Rule and went on to become one of 2001′s biggest hits. In early 2002, the formula was repeated with Lopez’ next single, “Ain’t It Funny”. Both remixes featured vocals and rap verses from Ja Rule and both far outperformed the song’s original versions, in mainstream radio, urban radio, and music video channels, in America and Europe alike. The only exception to this was American VH1 which played the original pop versions of the music videos rather than the hip-hop versions.

Looking to capitalize on the same type of strategy, Mary J. Blige invited Ja Rule to record a song with her, called “Rainy Dayz”, which was added to a 2002 re-release of her most recent album, 2001′s No More Drama. “Rainy Dayz” became yet another successful song in which a female vocalist’s singing complimented Rule’s own unique style of rapping.

From his 1999 debut to his 2003 duet with Ashanti, “Mesmerize”, Ja Rule was an enormous presence in the hip-hop world. His label Murder Inc. and mentor Irv Gotti seemed to be hitting the Top 10 charts with every single. So when upcoming rapper 50 Cent started mocking Ja Rule’s signature “It’s murdaaaaaaaaa” call, few paid any attention. The insults spilled out of the studio onto the Queens streets, with incidents of drive-bys, stabbings, and robberies. To this day, who started the battle is unknown. Ja claims it was all 50 Cent’s aggression, whereas 50 claims it to be a mutually started situation.

None of this was known to the general public due to the fact that 50 Cent had yet to break onto the mainstream scene. But by the end of 2003 it was almost impossible to escape his presence. The rapper had moved an unimaginable number of units with his album Get Rich or Die Tryin’. On numerous tracks 50 Cent hurled verbal shots toward Ja Rule and Murder Inc., even involving Rule’s wife and children. The battle between the two garnered a significant amount of attention.

During 50 Cent’s rise to fame Ja Rule and Murder Inc. decided to keep quiet. At this point on a majority of mixtapes, it was common to hear Ja getting dissed by not only 50 Cent and Eminem but by others including DMX, Busta Rhymes, Obie Trice, G Unit and D12. Toward the end of 2003 Ja Rule dropped his album Blood In My Eye, which was almost exclusively dedicated to firing back not only at 50 Cent, but other Interscope/Aftermath artists such as Eminem, Busta Rhymes, and Dr. Dre.

The album received poor reviews and became Ja’s worst album commercially, due to his departure from making the R&B influenced duets that he was most famous for. The battle between G-Unit (50 Cent’s “clique”) and Murder Inc. continued on the mixtape level although by this point in time the battle had become a one sided slaughter.

Ja Rule did however release a song named “Loose Change”, that viciously targeted the usual targets but also made mention of Eminem’s daughter and claims that Dr. Dre is a bisexual. The rapper replied with his own song “Doe Ray Me” which labelled Ja as a singer and pop star. Since then things have cooled down, and Ja Rule made no mention of 50 Cent and co. on his album R.U.L.E.. Ironically enough, 50 Cent has targeted rappers Fat Joe and Jadakiss for making an appearance on the album’s song “New York”. Post-2003 hadn’t been kind to Ja Rule. Ja Rule has suffered from the unrelenting assault and has been reportedly pulling out of music to focus on his movie career. Ja claims his comeback will be in year (2006).

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.