First he put a whole lotta love into hip-hop and now Ja Rule wants rappers to stop squabbling, he tells Siobhan Grogan.
'Yo," Ja Rule mumbles through a mouthful of food, eyeing me warily from beneath his baseball cap, and sinking down on the sofa far too comfortably for one who has been known to fall asleep during interviews. His air of suspicion is perhaps understandable. He is one of the world's most ubiquitous and bankable rap stars, having sold more than 10 million albums worldwide, but he is plainly aware these are difficult days for the industry he has transformed with his chart-friendly yet credible brand of hip-hop.
"They blame hip-hop for everything now," he sighs, waving a hand decked with diamonds. "Every time something happens that's a tragedy in the States they say, 'Hip-hop did it! It's the music!'" Rule insists that hip-hop's feuds have no place in the industry. "People have to stop and think about what's going on right now in hip-hop," he says passionately. Suddenly, the half-asleep, can't-be-bothered rap-star cliché is transformed into an eloquent, thoughtful businessman with a razor-sharp awareness of how he has come this far.
"Everybody's got a beef and it's kind of cartoonish but, as we've seen in the past, it can get serious. Hip-hop is so strong right now and we have such big voices that the idea is to keep us fighting each other. God forbid if someone gets half a brain, because if we all get together we could be very powerful. You've got to know how to sit back and watch, because it's not good news. Those things are tricks to sell a quick couple of units. Everybody else is doing their tricks while I'm really in the studio creating hits."
While Rule's high-profile duets have only recently thrust pop stardom upon him, he is hardly an overnight success story. Born the distinctly less glamorous Jeffrey Atkins in Queens, New York, he dropped out of high school at 16 to sell drugs on the streets. When his friend, Irv Gotti, a local record producer, was employed as a talent scout for Def Jam records, Rule was the first artist he signed. After a guest appearance on Jay-Z's single Can I Get A . . ., Rule's debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, sold two million copies but it was the follow-up, Rule 3:36, that hit upon the golden formula that would enable Gotti and Rule's empire to rival that of New York's other rap multi-millionaire, P Diddy.
In a duet with rising R&B star Christina Milian, the combination of Rule's gruff street-appeal and Milian's sweet, soulful delivery proved invincible. And while she received the rubber stamp of credibility, he dragged hip-hop into MTV's mainstream.
Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott were soon requiring Rule's magic touch, while the rapper also co-wrote and performed on the remixes of J-Lo's hits I'm Real and Ain't It Funny. Even new artist Ashanti Douglas's career was boosted immeasurably after teaming up with Rule on two hits - Livin' It Up and Always on Time - plus his forthcoming single, Mesmerise.
"I gave J-Lo two number ones," he says proudly. "I gave Mary J Blige a hit record. It's gratifying that I can sit back and watch work that I don't really have to be part of but that's out there because I created it."
The relationship between pop and hip-hop has been permanently transformed, and the likes of Nelly and Jay-Z have recently found willing women (Kelly Rowland and Beyonce Knowles respectively) to escort them to the top 10. "Before me, it was a joke, man," Rule guffaws. "Everybody was too tough to be in love! Thanks to me, now they can all be lover guys! The problem now is you've got these companies that see me being successful and see what I'm doing, then they put pressure on their artists to make those type of records."
His knack of spearheading trends is partly down to luck but chiefly thanks to a shrewd business brain and determined work ethic. Rule now owns part of his record label, Murder Inc, has signed lucrative advertising deals with Coca-Cola and Calvin Klein and has even squeezed in small roles in three films, including The Fast and the Furious. He realises the life-span of a rapper is limited and has no intention of overstaying his welcome. Indeed, Rule's next album - which he predicts should be released in late 2004 - will be his last. "A double album, no filler," he promises.
It is this self-awareness, he insists, that gives him the edge - creatively and financially - over his contemporaries. "Ninety per cent of these other rappers are doing it for the money," he says. "They just do it so they can get a pay cheque. I'm really not like the rest of them. I own companies and I rap. They're just rapping and getting cheques. I still go in the studio and work until the sun comes up."
Rule lives in luxury in New Jersey. He is married to his childhood sweetheart, Aisha, who is pregnant with their third child, after six-year-old Britney and two-year-old Jeff Jnr. "It's hard for me to be a strict dad because I'm a hip-hop dad. I'm running around rapping, smoking weed and talking about bitches and stuff on my record, so it's kind of hard for me to be strict. I have to sit them down and explain that what you see in entertainment is not real life."
His life story is more unlikely than any scriptwriter's fantasy - but Rule refuses to see it that way. Still, he knows his career is just a little charmed. "Hate is nothing," he says confidently. "I've been through it a thousand times. I have the power to touch people, good or bad. And I may just make a record that the hater likes and just can't accept the fact that he likes it. He'll be saying, Goddamnit, that Ja Rule! He's done it again!" - (Guardian Service)
Ja Rule's Mesmerise, featuring Ashanti, is out on Murder Inc Records