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He ended an eight-year recording hiatus with 2012’s musically expansive PiL 2. Rule’s profile rarely flagged in those years thanks in part to gossip- and music-generating feuds with 50 Cent among others, which he stoked on his back-to-basics, trash-talking Blood in My Eye. The offbeat romantic simultaneously kept his street cred burnished with gritty tales of gangsta glory like "New York," from his sixth album in as many years, 2004’s R.U.L.E. label boss Irv Gotti, Rule drove into radio-friendly territory with "Between Me & You." The song was not only Christina Milian’s debut, but also the first in a successful string of thug-love duets Rule recorded with female R&B singer/songwriters including Ashanti ("Always on Time," "Mesmerize") and Jennifer Lopez ("I'm Real," "Ain't It Funny").
Rule exploded as a solo artist in 1999 with the platinum Venni Vetti Vecci and its frothy yet fiercely braggadocious single, "Holla Holla." The following year, riding over spartan beats by Murder Inc. He then cut his teeth as a guest alongside a rap rogue’s gallery-from Jay-Z and DMX to Method Man and LL Cool J-that pointed toward his future dual status as rugged spitter and gruff crooner. Born Jeffrey Bruce Atkins in Queens, New York, in 1976, the gravel-voiced MC kicked off his career making boom-bap with Cash Money Click. Along the way, we learn about the woman who inspired his biggest hits the reason he, Jay and DMX will never reunite and, most importantly, J-Lo’s booty.Rough yet lovable Ja Rule emerged during hip-hop's late-'90s boom and evolved into a pop phenomenon for nearly all platforms. Here, he breaks down his 25 of his most essential songs over his two-decade career. Yes, he already gave us a remarkably candid interview about prison, 50 Cent and more a few weeks ago, but he’s got a lot more to say. He came off of house arrest just last month, after serving two years in state and federal prisons for weapons possession and tax charges. (Ja Rule’s right-hand man and go-to producer, Irv Gotti, instead ending up using the name for his record label.)Įither way, Ja Rule has been around for nearly 20 years now, and he’s got the hits-along with the battle scars-to prove it. At one point, the three even planned to form a supergroup called Murder Inc. Or maybe Ja won you over during his repeated street-oriented collaborations with Jay Z and DMX.
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Hey, those millions of records weren’t buying themselves.įor the older underground heads, it might have been during the mid-’90s, when he emerged as the standout member of Queens crew Cash Money Click and rhymed alongside Mic Geronimo. Released as the second single from The Last Temptation, Mesmerize is one of Ja Rule’s most-remembered hits and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. For most folks, it was during Ja’s dominating run of saccharine chart-topping hits were he teamed up with the likes of Ashanti, Christina Milian, Lil Mo, and Jennifer Lopez. Rule exploded as a solo artist in 1999 with the platinum Venni Vetti Vecci and its frothy yet fiercely braggadocious single, Holla Holla. But don’t front-you had your Ja Rule moment. Born Jeffrey Atkins in Queens, New York, Ja Rule a rapper, singer, songwriter and actor joined. Perhaps that’s why folks act like they never liked Ja Rule after his infamous clash with 50 Cent left his career mortally wounded. Thursday at the Sherman Theater, 524 Main St., Stroudsburg. History is written by the winners, the old saying goes.