Ja Rule

Born in Queens, New York, Jeffrey Atkins (aka Ja Rule) was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and began his career rapping with the group Cash Money Click. Their development was halted when one of the members was sent to prison but, changing his name to Ja Rule after a friend's nickname for him, Atkins' reputation as a rapper grew when he was featured on Jay-Z's hit single, Can I Get A... He released his debut album Venni Vetti Vecci in 1999 and, including the hit singles Holla Holla and Daddy's Little Baby (with Ronald Isley), sold over 3 million copies. He topped the US charts in 2000 duetting with Christina Milian on Between Me And You, and the album Rule 3:36 also racked up the sales. Further success followed with the Pain Of Love album (2001) and he maintained his status as one of the world's top rappers with The Last Temptation (2002), Blood In My Eye (2003), R.U.L.E. (2004) and The Mirror (2007); including collaborations with various artists, including Ashanti and Lil Wayne. In 2010 Ja Rule was working on a triple album Venni Vetti Vecci 2010, recreating the mood of his breakthrough 1999 album.