AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Ja Rule

Artist:Ja Rule f/Ashanti

Song:Always on Time

Album:Icon

The 2001 single Always on Time is the biggest hit to date for rapper Jeffrey "Ja Rule" Atkins. He was very successful at the time. His decline probably had more to do with the decline of his label owner Irv Gotti than anything Atkins did. He has a new album coming out. He was born Feb. 29, 1976 in Queens, NY. His parents split up when he was very young. His mom was a nurse and because she worked a lot, Atkins was raised mostly by his grandparents. He was a drug dealer as a teen. He started his rap career in 1994 with the group Cash Money Click with Chris Black and Otha "O-1" Miller. When friends started calling Atkins Ja Rule, he just kept the name. They worked on music with DJ Irv who would later call himself Irv Gotti. His real name is Irving Lorenzo Jr. The group signed with TVT Records and were starting to get somewhere when Black was jailed for five years. Back to square one for Atkins. Lorenzo got an A&R job with DefJam and signed Atkins. When DefJam gave Lorenzo his own label Murder Inc., Atkins was his flagship artist. After a few guest shots, Atkins' 1999 debut single Holla Holla reached #35 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album Venni Vetti Vecci was certified Platinum. With the 2000 album Rule 3:36, Lorenzo took Atkins in a more pop direction. Boy, did that pay off. The single Between Me and You featuring Christina Milian reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. The next single Put It on Me featuring Vita and Lil Mo reached #8. The album was certified 3XPlatinum. Atkins' next album Pain Is Love was even more successful. The single Livin' It Up featuring Case reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then Atkins appeared on the Jennifer Lopez single I'm Real. That topped the charts. This was followed by Always on Time featuring Ashanti. That also topped the charts. It is to date Atkins' only #1 hit. Pain Is Love was certified 3XPlatinum. Atkins wrote Always on Time with frequent songwriting partner Marcus "Aurelius 7" Vest and Lorenzo and Lorenzo produced. Apparently they wanted Brandy for this song. Ashanti was a Murder Inc. artist. That was the height of Atkins' success. You can get all of his hits on this comp. Atkins seemed more interested in feuding with 50 Cent. And the Murder Inc. were raided by the FBI due to accusations of money laundering. So Atkins left DefJam and went on hiatus after the 2004 album R.U.L.E. Lorenzo also left DefJam and started his new label Mpire with Universal. Atkins returned with the 2012 album Pain Is Love 2 produced by Lorenzo and Vest. By the time the album was released, Atkins started a two year jail sentence for gun possession. Atkins has promised a new album since 2016. He claims it will be his final album. It is supposed to be released this year. He has also done some acting and a lot of reality TV. But he was big for a couple of years. Here's the video for Always on Time by Ja Rule featuring Ashanti.