Ja Rule
Jeffery Atkins (born February 29, 1976 in Hollis, Queens, New York City), better known as Ja Rule (Jeffery Atkins Represents Unconditional Love Exists), is a thuggish rapper who is making a string of popular hip hop songs in the 2000's. He is also an actor who played roles in several films during this same time period.
Early career
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 a protege to both Gotti and Jay-Z. He appeared on the Jay-Z track "Can I Get A ...", which was his introduction into the mainstream music industry.
After the success of "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.
Rule 3:36
In late 2000, Rule released his second album, Rule 3:36, which spawned the huge hits "Between Me And You", featuring young newcomer Christina Milian on guest vocals, and "Put It On Me", featuring his label-mates Vita and Lil' Mo. The album's third single, "I Cry", also featured singing from Lil' Mo, but the song failed to blow up as the two prior singles had, even despite getting respectable video play on MTV2.
Pain Is Love
In the fall of 2001, after "I Cry" had run its course, Ja Rule released "Livin' It Up", the first single from his third album, Pain Is Love. The song, which featured guest vocals by R&B singer Case, went on to become another smash hit for the rapper thanks in part to its familiar sample of Stevie Wonder's "Do I Do". The followup single and video, "Always On Time", was released in December of that same year and was even bigger than "Livin' It Up", becoming Ja Rule's biggest pop radio hit to that point. The song and video were also notable as they introduced the public to singer Ashanti, who was the featured singer on the single's chorus.
"What's Going On"
Just days before the tragedy of September 11th, around the same time that "Livin' It Up" was breaking big, the American supergroup lineup known as the "All Star Tribute" was recording a cover of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", in order to raise international AIDS awareness as well as money to combat the disease. It was to be released in December. After 9/11, however, the song was rush-released to radio and to MTV; its video having been hastily thrown together "home-movie" clips from the very recent studio recording of the song. The song went on to become associated with the terrorist attacks and the subsequent war in Afghanistan more so than with AIDS. However, in December, the song was re-released as planned, with several new versions/remixes of both the song and the video, in order to benefit AIDS charities as originally planned. Ja Rule had a memorable part in the song. He, along with Nelly, Eve, and Fred Durst, added their own original rap lyrics about the disease to the song. Christina Aguilera, *NSYNC, Britney Spears, Destiny's Child, Jennifer Lopez, and Gaye's own daughter, Nona, among others, sang the original lyrics to Gaye's song.
Guest appearances
Ja's popularity in the hip-hop industry rose 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.
2002
In spring of 2002, the third single from Pain Is Love, "Down Ass Chick", was far less successful at pop radio than its two predecessors had been. The song heralded the return of Charli Baltimore--who was a "featured" rapper on the track--to the music industry after a five year absence. The remix of "Down Ass Chick", called "Down 4 U", fared slightly better at mainstream radio, thanks once again to a chorus sung by Ashanti, in addition to raps from Baltimore, Rule, and Vita. The "Down 4 U" video was a hit at MTV in the summer of 2002 because of its beach setting and its party theme. Bobby Brown and Whitney Houston had cameos in the video and speculation soon arose that one or both of them had been signed to Murder Inc. and was preparing to released a long-awaited comeback album. Some dismissed the claims as rumors, since it seemed that everybody in the industry wanted to be affiliated with Ja and Murder Inc. at the time. There was even talk that Michael Jackson had enlisted the help of Irv Gotti and Ja Rule and was in the process of signing a contract with Murder Inc.
Following all this, Murder Inc. did shortly sign Bobby Brown. Ja then featured Brown, Murder Inc.'s newest artist, in his next single "Thug Lovin'" in the fall of 2002, as he had done previously with Baltimore, Lil' Mo, and Ashanti when they were the newcomers. Despite "Thug Lovin'"'s being the first single from Ja's fourth album, The Last Temptation and Brown's "comeback" appearance on the song, it was relatively unsuccessful compared to many of Ja's previous singles. Brown's attempted return to mainstream music with the single did not succeed. Around the time of The Last Temptation's release, Ja Rule started saying that it would likely be either his last or second-to-last album, after which he would concentrate solely on other aspects of his life, such as his acting career and the managing of Murder Inc. Thus far, Rule seems to have changed his mind.
2003
The second single from The Last Temptation, "Mesmerize", followed the pattern used in "Always On Time", hoping to repeat its success; it worked. "Mesmerze" featured Ashanti on vocals and was another smash pop and urban radio hit--and an enormous MTV and VH1 video hit--for the duo. In late 2002 and early 2003, as Ja Rule ruled mainstream radio with "Mesmerize", another single of his, which featured Ashanti and Nas, "The Pledge", was released to radio, but failed to gain pop support. The album's final single, "Murder Reigns" also failed to become a huge hit, especially at pop radio, most likely due to the controversial song title. MTV and other music video channels only played the video with the censored title of "The Reign", and with the word "murder" removed from the chorus' lyrics. The song also had received criticism for its sampling of Toto's "Africa", something that had just recently been done on two other rappers recent albums (Nas' New World and Xzibit's Heart Of Man). The female vocalist who sang the chorus of "Murder Reigns" was not credited as "featured" artist, though she did not want to appear in the music video so her lines were lip synced in the video by a another member of Murder INC (now known as "The INC records"), Alexi.
Ja Rule returned in November of 2003 with the new single "Clap Back", on the album Blood In My Eye. Arguably his grittiest single yet, it seemed intended to challenge 50 Cent's comments about him. The song's video, which was dark and simple and featured a bulked-up Ja Rule, contrasted deeply to the colorful, happier scenes in videos such as "Always On Time" and "Mesmerize".
2004
On November 9, 2004, Ja Rule released his next album entitled "R.U.L.E." The album features several guest appearances, including New York rappers Fat Joe and Jadakiss on the album's second single, "New York". The first single from this album, "Wonderful", has been released, and features R. Kelly and Ashanti. It debuted at #1 in the UK Singles Chart, giving him his biggest single of his career there (even though at the same time it broke the record of the lowest selling #1 debut single ever). It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Career and personal battles
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. 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".
In Eminems song "Like Toy Soldiers", Eminem states, that he dosen't want to argue with Ja Rule or the other members of Murder Inc. anymore.
Movie career
Ja Rule has co-starred in a number of action movies including Half Past Dead, The Fast and the Furious, and Assault on Precinct 13.
Discography
Studio albums
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Singles
Solo Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 1999 | "Holla Holla" | #21 | #19 | Venni Vetti Vecci |
| 1999 | "Daddy's Little Baby" (Featuring Ronald Isley aka Mr. Biggs) |
- | - | Venni Vetti Vecci |
| 2000 | "How Many Wanna" | - | - | Venni Vetti Vecci |
| 2000 | "It's Murda" (Featuring Jay-Z & DMX) / "Kill 'Em All" (Featuring Jay-Z) |
- | - | Venni Vetti Vecci |
| 2001 | "Between Me & You" (Featuring Christina Milian) |
#5 | #15 | Rule 3:36 |
| 2001 | "Put It On Me" (Featuring Lil' Mo & Vita) |
#3 | #3 | Rule 3:36 |
| 2001 | "I Cry" (Featuring Lil' Mo) |
#11 | #17 | Rule 3:36 |
| 2001 | "I'm Real [Murder Remix]" (Featuring Jennifer Lopez) |
#1 | #4 | Pain Is Love / J to tha L-O!: The Remixes |
| 2001 | "Livin' It Up" (Featuring Case) |
#6 | #27 | Pain Is Love |
| 2001 | "Always On Time" (Featuring Ashanti) |
#1 | #6 | Pain Is Love |
| 2001 | "Ain't It Funny [Murder Remix]" (Featuring Jennifer Lopez & Caddillac Tah) |
#1 | #4 | Exodus / J to tha L-O!: The Remixes |
| 2002 | "Down Ass Chick" [Radio Version of "Down Ass Bitch"] | #2 | #4 | Pain Is Love |
| 2002 | "Livin' It Up 2002" [Re-Release] (Featuring Case) |
- | #5 | Pain Is Love |
| 2002 | "Thug Lovin'" (Featuring Bobby Brown) |
#8 | #15 | Last Temptation |
| 2002 | "Mesmerize" (Featuring Ashanti) |
#2 | #12 | Last Temptation |
| 2003 | "Clap Back" | #44 | - | Blood in My Eye |
| 2003 | "Clap Back" / "Reigns" | - | #9 | Blood in My Eye [UK Version] / Last Temptation |
| 2004 | "Wonderful" (Featuring R. Kelly & Ashanti) |
#5 | #1 | R.U.L.E. |
| 2004 | "New York" (Featuring Fat Joe & Jadakiss) |
#27 | - | R.U.L.E. |
| 2005 | "Caught Up" (Featuring Lloyd) |
- | #20 | R.U.L.E. |
| 2005 | "Exodus" | - | - | Exodus Greatest Hits |
Featured Roles:
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 1998 | "Can I Get A..." (Jay-Z Featuring Amil & Ja Rule) |
#17 | #24 | Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life |
| 1998 | "You Are My Everything [Remix]" (Dru Hill Featuring Ja Rule) |
-#11 | -#8 | -#12 |
| 2000 | "We Don't Give A What" (Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers Featuring Ja Rule, Vita, Black Child, Tah Murder, O-1, & Ronnie Bumps) |
- | - | Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers Inc |
| 2000 | "We Murderers Baby" (Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers Featuring Ja Rule & Vita) |
- | - | Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers Inc |
| 2001 | "What's Goin' On" (All Star Tribute Featuring Ja Rule) |
#27 | #6 | - |
| 2002 | "Rainy Dayz" (Mary J. Blige Featuring Ja Rule) |
#12 | #17 | No More Drama'''''''' |
| 2002 | "Down 4 U" (Irv Gotti Presents Ashanti, Ja Rule, Vita & Charli Baltimore) |
#2 | #4 | Irv Gotti Presents The Inc / Last Temptation [UK Re-Release] |