Ja Rule

Serving as the premier act on Irv Gotti’s Def Jam-linked Murder Inc. imprint, Ja Rule emerged as one of rap’s biggest commercial draws in the first years of the 2000s through repeated partnerships with the hitmaker and the roster he assembled. Born Jeffrey Atkins on February 29, 1976, in Queens, New York, he announced his arrival with the 1999 hardcore set Venni Vetti Vecci, a debut whose raw style mirrored the gritty thug rap then championed by DMX and the Ruff Ryders crew.

On his follow-up, Rule 3:36 (2000), he began teaming with female R&B vocalists, yielding a run of mainstream singles that included “Between Me and You,” “Put It on Me,” and “I Cry.” Pain Is Love (2001) repeated the approach, spotlighting rap-R&B fusions on its singles—“I’m Real,” “Livin’ It Up,” “Always on Time,” and “Down Ass Chick”—while filling the rest of the project with hardcore material.

Through the summer of 2002, Ja Rule reached peak visibility, appearing on his own chart successes as well as Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?” and Mary J. Blige’s “Rainy Dayz.” Late that year he delivered his fourth album, The Last Temptation (2002), again pairing with R&B singers for the singles, this time Bobby Brown on “Thug Lovin’” and Ashanti on “Mesmerize.” Around the same period 50 Cent began directing barbs at him, sparking feuds between their respective camps; one exchange saw 50 Cent, Eminem, and Busta Rhymes trading lines over the beat of 2Pac’s “Hail Mary” on a mixtape freestyle aimed at Ja Rule and Irv Gotti.

As criticism mounted and his popularity waned, Ja Rule answered with Blood in My Eye (2003) and R.U.L.E. (2004). Although the latter produced the Top Five rap-R&B single “Wonderful,” featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti, both projects met lukewarm responses and became the first of his albums to miss platinum status.

Exodus (2005), a greatest-hits package, closed his Def Jam chapter. From 2005 to 2007, while Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc. operation unraveled, Ja Rule stayed silent and placed no tracks on the Billboard Hot 100. Late in 2007 he mounted a return attempt with “Uh-Ohhh!,” featuring then-dominant rapper Lil Wayne, yet the single peaked at number 106 on the Billboard 200. Follow-up singles “Body” and “Sunset” likewise failed to gain traction, and the planned November 2007 release of The Mirror was repeatedly delayed before being scrapped. That year also brought gun- and drug-possession charges, which resulted in a two-year prison term handed down in 2010; an additional 28 months were added the following year for tax evasion. None of this prevented the 2012 arrival of Pain Is Love, Vol. 2 on his new imprint, M-Pire.