This page uses content from the biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.

Jeffery Atkins (born February 29 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper from Hollis, Queens, New York City, New York. He rose to fame in the late 90s and early 2000's with a string of successful albums filled with pop songs and R&B singles bringing his album sales to 20 (platinum). Ja Rule is especially noted for his gruff, gravelly voice.

Career

Atkins first appeared in 1995, "Time To Build" with fellow rappers Jay Z and DMX on Mic Geronimo's debut album, "The Natural." Rule later appeared with 0-1 and Chris Black as part of Cash Money Click (not to be confused with Cash Money Records). In 1998, he was signed to Def Jam Recordings, with his first major appearance alongside Jay-Z on the song "Can I Get A...". In 1999, he released his solo debut, Venni Vetti Vecci, and had a hit single "Holla Holla". The album went on to be a platinum hit.

During early 2000 Ja Rule was also Featured on Irv Gotti's successful album, "Irv Gotti Presents... The Murderers". This album featured other Murder Inc. record label artists as well as DMX, Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes. In 2000 Ja Rule released Rule 3:36, his second album. The first released single was "Between Me & You" featuring Christina Milian, which proved to be a hit and was followed by another successful single, "Put It On Me" featuring Lil' Mo & Vita. The last single, "I Cry" featured Lil Mo. The album received an unexpected level of support, and went on to become triple platinum.

On October 2,2001, Ja Rule released his third album, Pain Is Love. The first single, "Livin' It Up" was a hit which featured guest vocals by R&B singer Case and sampled Stevie Wonder's "Do I Do". The follow up single, "Always On Time", was released in December of the same year and was yet another success for the rapper. The song was notable as it introduced the public to singer Ashanti, who performed on the songs chorus. The album also featured the successful remix "I'm Real" with Jennifer Lopez. Finally, the album included the song "So Much Pain", a tribute to Tupac Shakur, and went on to become triple platinum.

His fourth studio album The Last Temptation was released on November 19,2002. Although the album was fairly successful (it was certified double platinum), it failed to carry the momentum brought by Rule's previous album. Lead singles, "Thug Lovin" (featuring Bobby Brown) and "Mesmerize" (featuring Ashanti) were successful.

During 2002 Ja Rule also featured on "Irv Gotti Presents... The Inc" and "Irv Gotti Presents the... Remixes" both albums were successful spawning such hits as "Down 4 U" and "Ain't It Funny Remix"

Blood In My Eye was Ja Rule's fifth album and is most notable for its extensive "diss" tracks aimed at rapper 50 Cent, Eminem, Dr. Dre and others. It was certified gold in the U.S., a relative disappointment compared to his previous record sales, it eventually went on to be platinum worldwide.

Ja Rule released "R.U.L.E." On November 9, 2004, and had hits with "Wonderful" (featuring R. Kelly), "New York" (featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss), and "Caught Up" (featuring Alexi & Lloyd). The album was certified gold in the U.S and has gone on to sell 2.4 million copies worldwide making R.U.L.E. a successful return to the music industry after his feud with various other rap artists.

Ja recently released new tracks from his upcoming mixtape M.I.3 on his myspace page, the mixtape features contributions from other artists such as Ashanti, Lil' Wayne, Nas, Black Child, Caddillac Tah and o-1 and brand new signees Harry O, Young Life and The Gift. He also is releasing his first single from his upcoming album "Love is Pain" titled "Get Up".

Disputes

50 Cent

The feud began when Ja Rule was at a video shoot for "Its Murder" and 50 Cent wanted to appear in the video but was turned down. On his album, Get Rich or Die Tryin, 50 Cent hurled verbal shots towards Ja Rule and many other artists affiliated with Murder Inc. Even mentioning Rule's wife and children. Towards the end of 2003, Ja Rule dropped his album Blood In My Eye, which was almost exclusively dedicated to firing back to the "disses" that he received earlier ("Clap Back" and "The Crown" became successful hits). The battle between G-Unit and Murder Inc. continued on the mixtape level till Ja Rule's release of a song named "Loose Change", that targeted 50 Cent and G-Unit, and also mentioned Eminem's daughter and claims that "Dr.Dre is a bisexual." 50 Cent and Eminem responded by releasing the remix track of 2pac's classic "Hail Mary." Ja Rule consequently released the remake of "Who Shot Ya". The feud appeared to die down until in early 2006, when Ja Rule along with other Murder Inc. artists released "diss" tracks "21 Gunz" and "So Hot". In November 8 The Documentary Movie "Death Before Dishonor" was released which was basically about snitching in the hood. In the movie, Ja made a sound appearance and commented on how 50 cent snitched over the hood. Controversially, nowadays 50 cent is losing his popularity in the hip-hop industry because he has too many enemies whereas Ja is gradually preparing to release his album entitled Pain Is Love with various established artists featured on his tracks.

Eminem

Eminem became involved with Ja Rule for several reasons: over Rule's involvement with The Source (a popular hip-hop magazine), with Eminem's involvement with 50 Cent, and with Rule's mention of Eminem's daughter Hailie in the track "Loose Change"(On the track, Ja Rule raps "Em, you claim your mother's a crackhead, and Kim is a known slut, so what's Hailie going to be when she grows up?"). Numerous "diss" tracks were traded back and forth by both rappers such as a remix of Tupac's hit song, Hail Mary, which featured 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes, It does appear, however, that the feud has ended with both rappers claiming that they want no more problems. Eminem has discussed his feelings concerning the feud with his single, "Like Toy Soldiers."

The Game

After The Game was kicked out of G-Unit by frontman 50 Cent, The Game has recently debuted his sophmore CD entitled 'The Doctor's Advocate'. The first single "It's Okay (One Blood)" features a remix over 11 minutes long with over 20 of rap's most elite MCs. Although The Game was heavily involved with G-Unit's beef with Ja Rule, the two have since squashed their beef and Ja Rule commits 16 bars on the all-star remix. The two mcs have also collaborated on Ja's new album on a track titled "Street Dream" which also features r&b legend and hip hop queen Mary J. Blige. There was a poll on allhiphop, which asked who's verse was the best, Ja Rule's verse was voted the best. (see [[1]])

Discography

Albums

Singles

Featured Singles

Awards history

Filmography

Miscellaneous

• He is a Leap Year baby.
• He did a collaboration with rock band Metallica titled, "We Did It Again."
• He had a sister that died when he was five years old, due to respiratory problems.
• "Ja Rule" is an acronym for, "Jeffery Atkins Represents Unconditional Loves Exist."
• Irv Gotti and Ja Rule recently made peace with rapper The Game and Ja Rule appears on the recently released mega remix of It's Okay (One Blood).
• He is a big supporter of Tupac Shakur and his friends.
• He featured in the 1999 tour Hard Knock Life, featuring many other artists such as DMX, Jay Z, DJ Clue, Memphis Bleek, Redman, Method Man and many other main-stream artists.
• Ja Rule appears on the remix of The Game's hit single, "One Blood", which also features (in verse order) Jim Jones, Snoop Dogg, Nas, T.I., new Game verse, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, N.O.R.E., Jadakiss, & Styles P., Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Twista, Kurupt, Daz, WC, E-40, Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Young Dro, and The Clipse; Ja Rule does the final verse.
• Has started his own record label, mPIRE Records.

External links

• JaRule/MPire Forum
• Ja Rule official website
• Interview with Ja Rule by Farrakhan
• www.murderinc-online.com
• His Certifications

ar:جارول de:Ja Rule es:Ja Rule fr:Ja Rule it:Ja Rule nl:Ja Rule pt:Ja Rule sv:Ja Rule

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.