Ja Rule was born Jeff Atkins on the leap year of February 29th in 1976. Ja Rule is so much more than a rapper. He is an all-around hip-hop artist. A talented songwriter, potential movie superstar, and musical sensation, Ja Rule has quickly become hip-hop’s top contender. Ja Rule begin rapping in New York as a member of ’Cash Money Click.’ Unfortunately, the trio, which also featured MCs Nemesis and Chris Black, only dropped one single, "4 My Click/Get The Fortune," before Chris Black was incarcerated. After that, Ja’s career experienced a three-year lull until he signed with Def Jam in 1998.

In 1998, Ja put in some guest work on a few Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam releases : "Murdergram" on Jay-Z’s Streets is Watching Soundtrack, Jay-Z’s "Can I Get A..." and "Gangsta Shit" from DJ Clue’s The Professional. His debut solo album Vetti, Venni, Vecci was released in 1999. the same year, Ja rule was also a part of Def Jam’s Hard Knock Life Tour, the highest grossing rap tour in history.

His third album Pain Is Love revisits the formula that transformed Ja rule from a skilled lyricist into a Songwriting genius. 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. In October 2000, Ja Rule topped the Billboard 200 Albums chart with "Rule 3:36", selling over 275,000 copies in the U.S. its first week. Rule 3:36 also topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 3 weeks.

In october 2001, Ja Rule topped ones again the Billboard 200 Album chart for 2 weeks with Pain Is Love after selling over 360,000 copies in its first week in the U.S. Pain Is Love also topped the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 3 weeks. In August 2002, Ja Rule won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Hip-Hop Video for the remix of "I’m Real" with Jennifer Lopez. He was also nominated in the category for "Always On Time" with Ashanti.