Ja Rule

Jeffrey Bruce Atkins Sr. (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper.

Ja Rule was born Jeffrey Bruce Atkins on February 29, 1976, to Debra and Will in Hollis, a section of the Queens borough of New York City.

Jeffrey's father left the family when he was very young.

Atkins was raised as an only child, as his younger sister, Kristen, died in the womb when Atkins was 5.

His mother, Debra, was a healthcare worker, and due to the amount of time she spent working, Atkins was largely raised by his grandparents as a Jehovah's Witness.

Atkins' mother left the Jehovah's Witness religion when he was 12.

Soon after, Atkins began selling drugs in Hollis.

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", telling MTV News that the name came from a friend who addressed him by that name; other friends simply called him "Ja".

Together they worked with producer DJ Irv to produce a number of songs, releasing their debut single "Get Tha Fortune" independently in 1994.

After the group signed with TVT Records, the song was re-released through the label later that year as the B-side to their second single, "4 My Click".

"4 My Click" featured Mic Geronimo and became popular on pirate radio, eventually receiving airplay on Yo! MTV Raps.

Plans for the release of the group's eponymous debut studio album were brought to a halt in 1995 after Chris Black was sentenced to five years in prison and the group was dropped from TVT, which led to their third single "She Swallowed It" never officially being released, however it was later bootlegged.

With no label, the group disbanded shortly after being dropped.

After being dropped from TVT, Ja Rule maintained a close relationship with DJ Irv, who was working as an executive producer for Def Jam at the time.

DJ Irv, now known as Irv Gotti, was hired as an A&R for the label and was able to get Ja Rule a contract with Def Jam.

In 1995, he made his first solo appearance on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build" alongside Jay-Z and DMX, who were also in their early stages of their careers.

He later appeared on the song "Usual Suspects" from Mic Geronimo's second album Vendetta in 1997, alongside The Lox, DMX and Tragedy Khadafi.

He also had a brief cameo in the video for "Walk In New York" by Queens hardcore rap group Onyx.

Later in 1997, Irv Gotti was granted his own imprint from Def Jam, known as Murder Inc. Records.

Ja Rule was promoted as the label's flagship artist, and he continued to make guest appearances on songs by other artists, including Method Man, Redman, Nas, DMX, LL Cool J and Dru Hill.

He later appeared on Jay-Z's 1998 hit single "Can I Get A...", for which he wrote the hook.

It was originally planned to be Ja Rule's debut single until Jay-Z heard the track and requested it for himself.

During this time, he rapped under the slightly modified stage name Jah.

He signed with Irv Gotti's Murder Inc Records, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings to release his debut studio album Venni Vetti Vecci (1999), which spawned his first single "Holla Holla".

Venni Vetti Vecci (1999) was met with critical and commercial success, receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); it was followed by his second and third albums Rule 3:36 (2000) and Pain Is Love (2001), both of which topped the US Billboard 200.

Selling over 15 million combined units, both also received triple platinum certification by the RIAA and remain his bestselling albums.

Returning to the Ja Rule name, his debut single Holla Holla was released in March 1999 and became a hit, peaking at #35 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Fueled by the success of Holla Holla, Ja Rule's debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, was released in 1999, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200 with 184,000 copies sold in its first week.

It eventually reached platinum status in the US due to the popularity of "Holla Holla".

A remix of "Holla Holla" was later released, featuring Jay-Z, Vita, Cadillac Tah, Black Child, Memphis Bleek and Busta Rhymes.

Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known as a leading figure in 2000s hip hop for his blending of gangsta rap with commercially-oriented pop sensibilities.

Ja Rule peaked the Billboard Hot 100 thrice in 2001 with his single "Always on Time" (featuring Ashanti) and his guest appearances on Jennifer Lopez's "I'm Real (Murder Remix)" and "Ain't It Funny".

His encompassing singles, "Put It on Me" (featuring Lil' Mo and Vita), "Mesmerize" (featuring Ashanti), "Livin' It Up" (featuring Case) and "Wonderful" (featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti) have peaked within the top ten of the chart and spawned from commercially successful album releases.

He 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); The Last Temptation received platinum certification while R.U.L.E. received gold certification.

Ja Rule has been nominated for two American Music Awards and four Grammy Awards with respective collaborators Lil' Mo, Vita, Ashanti and Case.

As of 2018, Ja Rule has sold 30 million records worldwide.

Outside of music, Ja Rule was met with scrutiny for his involvement in the fraudulent Fyre Festival, which he co-founded with con artist Billy McFarland.

In November 2019, he was cleared of any legal wrongdoing from his role in the festival.

Earlier that year, he joined the main cast of WeTV's Growing Up Hip Hop: New York.