Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976) a leap year child, better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Hollis Queens. Atkins began his rap career in 1994 with the hip hop group Cash Money Click alongside members Chris Black and O-1. He took the stage name “Ja Rule”. Together they worked with DJ Irv to produce a number of songs, releasing their debut single “Get Tha Fortune“ independently in 1994. In 1998 he wrote a single which was picked up and recorded with Jay- Z “Can I Get A” which was featured on the Rush Hour Soundtrack.
Ja Rule has received many accolades for his musical endeavors – 2002 he received the BET Award for Best Male Hip-Hop Artist – from GQ he won the Musician of the Year – MTV Best Hip-Hop Video – NAACP Image Awards, he won for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Artist. As an artist, he has always been generous and has many respective collaborators most notable Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, Mary J Blige, Jay-z, DMX, R. Kelly, Bobby Brown, Missy Elliot, Christina Milian, Charli Baltimore, Black Child, Caddilac Tah Murda, Lil Mo, Vita and Case to name a few.
Following the release of his debut album “Venni Vetti Vecci” (1999), and its lead single “Holla Holla”, the album was Certified Platinum July 1999. He released his respective second album “Rule 3:36” (2000), the album was a commercial success, selling 276,000 copies during its first week of release and debuting at number one on the Billboard 200. Kicking off chart topping hits “Between Me and You”, “Put It On Me “and “I Cry”. He followed this with a couple of singles with Jennifer Lopez “I’m Real” – “I’m Real – Murder Remix” and “Ain’t That Funny“ all of which placed in Billboard top 20. His 3rd released album came right behind this successful movement in October 2001 titled “Pain Is Love” on this album he delivered “Living It Up”, “Down Ass Chick” and the Billboard No 1 hit “Always On Time”. Both albums topped the US Billboard 200 album chart, launching him into the mainstream, selling over a combined 15 million units to a worldwide audience. Ja Rule followed up with his respective fourth, fifth and sixth albums “The Last Temptation” (2002), “Blood in My Eye” (2003), and “R.U.L.E”. (2004), with “The Last Temptation” attaining platinum status and “R.U.L.E.“ reaching gold status. As of 2018, Ja Rule has sold 14.4 million units in the US and has sold over 30 million records worldwide.
In between his very successful music career he was able to work on 4 Movie Soundtracks and about 20 movies. Most Notable “Fast and the Furious”, “Cookout”, “Scary Movie”, “Assault on Precinct 13”, “Cookout 2” and “I’m In Love with a Church Girl” to name a few as well as many TV shows Most notable “Follow the Rules” and “Growing up Hip Hop – New York”,
In 2023, Ja Rule is the curator of the Iconic Vibes concert series, which celebrates the legendary Rappers in a signature one night only live band performance, which can be viewed on his https://iconn.live/ or in your App store. He is involved in bringing his Roses Wines to consumers and is instrumental in the creative for other products in development currently, Ja Rule is an Innovative Creative Entertainer whom we most certainly have not heard everything from yet.
