Governtment Name
Jeffrey Atkins (Born February 29, 1976 in Queens, NY)

Groups
~Murder Inc.~
Jay-Z (A.K.A. Jigga, Hova & Hov) (Born Shawn Corey Carter, December 4, 1970 in Brooklyn, NY)
DMX (acronym: Dark Man X) (Born Earl Simmons, December 18, 1970 in Baltimore, MD)
Ja Rule (Born Jeffrey Atkins, February 29, 1976 in Queens, NY)

See Also: Jay-Z & Ruff Ryders

Albums
Ja Rule - Venni Vetti Vecci
Ja Rule - Rule 3:36

Also Featured On...
Ashanti
Ashanti - Concrete Rose
Belly
Mary J. Blige - The Making Of A Queen Volume One
Blue Streak
Blackstreet - Finally
Blackstreet - No Diggity: The Very Best Of Blackstreet
Cuban Link - 24K
Cuban Link - Broken Chains
Damizza Presents...Where I Wanna Be
DJ Clue? - The Professional
DJ Khaled - We The Best
DJ Green Lantern - Invasion Part II: Conspiracy Theory
Do Or Die - Victory
DysFunktional Family
Faith Evans - Remixes, Unreleased & Featured
Fabolous - Ghetto Fabolous
The Fast And The Furious
Fat Joe - J.O.S.E. (Jealous Ones Still Envy)
Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers
Irv Gotti Presents The Inc
How To Be A Player
Jagged Edge - J.E. Heartbreak
Jay-Z - Vol. 2...Hard Knock Life
Jay-Z - The Black Mixtape (Special Limited Edition)
Donell Jones - Welcome To Azzville
R. Kelly - Chocolate Factory
Life
Light It Up
Lloyd - Southside
Method Man Redman - Blackout!
Next Friday
The Notorious B.I.G. - Duets: The Final Chapter
The Nototious B.I.G. - Greatest Hits
112 - Pleasure & Pain
Rap Or Die Vol. 3
Rush Hour
Erick Sermon - Def Squad Presents Erick Onasis
Sisqo - Unleash The Dragon
The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards 2001
Streets Is Watching
Swizz Beatz Presents G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories
Thug Radio Mixtape XV: Want That Old Thing Back
TQ - The Second Coming
Too Gangsta For Radio
2Pac - Rare & Unreleased
Violator The Album

Bio From AllMusic.Com
As the flagship artist for producer Irv Gotti's Def Jam-affiliated Murder Inc. label, Ja Rule became the rap industry's most commercially successful artist during the early 2000s, working closely with the hitmaker and his stable of talent. Ja initially won over a sizable following with Venni Vetti Vecci (1999), his rather hardcore debut album modeled largely after the style of rugged thug rap then popularized by DMX and the Ruff Ryder collective. On his second album, Rule 3:36 (2000), he began collaborating with female R&B singers, and a string of radio-friendly hits resulted ("Between Me and You," "Put It on Me," "I Cry"). Pain Is Love (2001) followed the same template, serving up a few rap-R&B hybrids for the singles ("I'm Real," "Livin' It Up," "Always on Time," "Down Ass Chick") and filling out the album with hardcore rap.

Throughout the summer of 2002, Ja Rule was at his most popular, featured on not only his own hits but also as a featured guest on Fat Joe's "What's Luv?" and Mary J. Blige's "Rainy Dayz." Near the end of the year, he released his fourth album, The Last Temptation (2002), which again paired him with R&B vocalists for its singles, this time with Bobby Brown ("Thug Lovin'") and Ashanti ("Mesmerize"). Ja Rule began to be mocked by 50 Cent around this time, and beefs ensued between the two rappers' camps; for instance, over the beat of 2Pac's "Hail Mary," 50 Cent teamed up with his associates Eminem and Busta Rhymes for a stinging mixtape freestyle dissing Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. Increasingly susceptible to the criticism as his music fell out of public favor, Ja Rule returned with as much vengeance as he could muster for Blood in My Eye (2003) and R.U.L.E. (2004). Though the latter spawned a Top Five hit single, "Wonderful," a rap-R&B hybrid featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti, both albums were met with general indifference, becoming the first of Ja Rule's albums to fall short of platinum certification.

Exodus (2005), a best-of collection, brought Ja Rule's tenure with Def Jam to a close. From 2005-2007, as Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. operation fell into shambles, Ja Rule was quiet; he charted no songs on the Billboard Hot 100 during this time period. Toward the end of 2007, he attempted a comeback, first with "Uh-Ohhh!"; featuring Lil Wayne, who was perhaps the hottest rapper of the moment, the song nonetheless stalled at number 106 on the Billboard 200. A couple other singles ("Body," "Sunset") also failed to garner significant airplay, and the planned November 2007 release of The Mirror was pushed back. — Jason Birchmeier

Official Sites: Ja Rule & MySpace