Name: Jeffrey Atkins
Stage Name: Ja Rule
Occupation: Rapper, singer, actor
Website: www.ruleyork.com
Twitter: @ruleyork
Lyric: Let’s talk about your given name versus your stage name, any nicknames that you might have?
JR: Yeah, my stage name is actually an acronym for my real name, Ja, J A is Jeff Atkins, I guess you could say my initials not even an acronym because it’s kind of like Jeff Atkins Rule. I use my real name in my films, so people know me as Jeff Atkins as well. And my mama gave me that name, I like that name.
Lyric: Any other nicknames that you have?
JR: Yeah, I got a few nicknames.
Lyric: Any that you want to share?
JR: Less. They used to call me Less when I was young.
Lyric: Besides being a rapper and singer, what has your role been in the entertainment industry?
JR: A lot of stuff, films, music of course. I’ve been in Fast and Furious, Cookout, and Scary Movie, Assault on Precinct 13. I’ve been in a lot of movies, so I’m really enjoying the acting thing. I’m really starting to get into it more now and music, that’s my passion, that’s my love, that’s my baby right there, so you know I love doing music, staying in the studio, working on new stuff, putting together new music, new concepts, trying to stay ahead of the curve at all times.
Lyric: Will you get into writing, directing or producing film at all?
JR: You know I think that’s a little bit further down the road, actually producing is a little bit closer in the now, because I actually do my own production company, we’re actually putting together some projects right now, so that’s in the now, but as far as me writing my own movie, or maybe even directing, I’ve thought about that, and it intrigues me, so maybe down the line, in a few years, I’ll keep that bug.
Lyric: Do you have a mentor at all?
JR: I would have to say God. When things are bad I look to Him, when things are good I thank Him, so I would have to say God.
Lyric: What is your favorite project you have worked on?
JR: Hmm… I would have to say my first album.
Lyric: What’s been your most meaningful success that you feel like you’ve had so far?
JR: My three kids. That’s the best thing that I’ve done to date.
Lyric: Do they get involved in music at all?
JR: They’re starting to come around. My daughter, she’s 14, she’s starting to get the acting bug. My son, he’s been in a movie with me recently that I just shot, my oldest son, and my youngest son, he’s a character, so I think it’s in them, we just have to wait and see. And actually my daughter, she’s going to be in my sitcom that I’m working on right now.
Lyric: You’re working on a sitcom? When will that be out?
JR: It’s still in production, I’m getting it put together, we’re getting all the writers and stuff. We’ve got a good team behind us, it’s me and Queen Latifah, Flavor Unit and Tracy Morgan, we’re all executive producers on the project, so it should be a really interesting show once we’ve got it all done up.
Lyric: That sounds like it’ll be fun. We’re in Nashville, where do you generally work in music?
JR: New York. New York is where I do most of my work.
Lyric: How do you work when you’re writing a song?
JR: Kind of unorthodox. I don’t use pen and paper. I guess that’s kind of unorthodox, though not so much these days. A lot of artists don’t use pen and paper anymore. I kind of just sit in a room. My approach to doing music gets kind of rock and roll-ish. I drink, and I smoke a little bit, and I come up with thoughts and create, and that’s kind of my process.
Lyric: Do you co-write? Are you in the room by yourself or do you work with other people?
JR: It depends. I believe I come up with different types of music when I’m by myself, things that I wouldn’t come up with when a lot of people are around. But I record both ways, it doesn’t really matter.
Lyric: Genres of music seem to be overlapping and bleeding into each other these days, with people crossing over to different genres. Do you feel like you fall into one specific genre?
JR: You know, I’m hip hop till I die. I bleed that. But I don’t like to put myself in a box. I believe I can do anything, any type of music. I’ve written R&B records and stuff like that, songs for J Lo and Mary J Blige, so I can do that, but I would like to test myself and try other genres of music. Not to perform, but to write for other artists.
Lyric: So you’re saying there’s a chance you might come to Nashville and write a country song?
JR: Well hell, yeah! Hey country’s not that different from hip hop. When you really listen to it, they talk about a lot of pain, you know, it’s a good music.
Lyric: It’s really all about stories, no matter what genre you’re in.
JR: Yeah, life experiences and so forth.
Lyric: Let’s talk about hit songs for a minute. It’s one thing to have one hit song but how do you make a career out of it?
JR: It’s not easy, you’ve just got to keep being creative with music, keep trying different things, keep pushing the envelope. I think that’s what people like. I think people like when artists push themselves and make different styles and different types of music and I’m one of those artists that’s not scared to do that. I love to get into the studio and try different things and come up with that next sound, if you may. If I can get it there, I’ll take it there. And you just can’t be scared to do it as an artist, and I think people appreciate that. And that’s what makes hit makers hit makers.
Lyric: Congratulations on going international by the way! How has that affected your career and just life in general?
JR: When I first started making music, I could have only dreamed of people in London, or people in Africa, or in Australia listening to my music. You know, I’m thinking this is for my homies, we’re going to make some records in the studio, we’re going to rock to them, and if somebody else does, so be it, great. But you don’t expect to get to these points and when you do, you kind of start to look at music differently. And you start to understand music for what it is, it’s supposed to be a worldly thing, it’s supposed to be enjoyed by many. You’re supposed to think of music that the masses can enjoy, that people want to hear all over the world. It makes it that greater of a challenge to make records that different races and religions and people that don’t even speak the language enjoy. It’s a real challenge and it’s really fun to go in the studio and to put together something that reaches that plateau.
Lyric: So I guess you’re traveling a lot now too to support that, right?
JR: Yeah, I’ve been traveling a whole lot.
Lyric: Where have you been, where are you going?
JR: Oh man, I’ve been everywhere. In fact, I’ve nicknamed my crew ‘the passport gang.’ We get around. But we’ve been having a lot of fun this year going overseas. We’ve hit it all. We’re still hitting it, we’re hitting the gamut right now. I think this month alone we’ve been to Brazil, then we jumped over to Romania, then Germany, then Norway, then Africa, we did France, St. Tropez. It’s fun, but you can probably hear it in my voice that I’m a little worn out. And I’m in the studio late, until 4 or 5 in the morning. I love it but it will definitely wear you down, and I’m not going to get no younger, so I’ve got to eat right.
Lyric: Talk about how the music industry has changed since your career started because just technology alone and home studios and digital downloads and all of that, how has that affected you?
JR: Everything has went digital. It’s kind of like a gift and a curse. As great as the computer is for marketing and promotion, it’s as bad as it is for consumers to go online and download music for free. So it’s a difficult thing because you’re happy that all of these new technologies are out there but then at the same time it’s kind of crippling your business. I think we just have to find new ways to sell the music. I don’t know if it’s a thing where artists have to get together with retailers, I don’t know what it is, what we have to do, but it’s something that we have to figure out, and it’s going to be a new business model how we sell music and it’s coming very soon.
Lyric: I guess it changes daily.
JR: It changes. But this is a change that nobody was prepared for. That’s the difference. Usually when changes hit they’re minute changes. This was something that was earth-shattering. I don’t think people expected the internet to take over the world.
Lyric: That’s true. And it seems like people’s deals, whether it be as an artist or a writer, are changing so much. Everyone’s having to get really creative in how they make money.
JR: It’s fun, though. This is a hustlers dream right here.
Lyric: Yeah it is! So what are the biggest royalty streams or opportunities for people to earn royalties these days? Or just money in general?
JR: Content. Content is king right now. If you have content, whether it be viral video content or audio, a lot of music, you can make money in this entertainment business.
Lyric: Things seem to be changing a bit where artists aren’t necessarily recording full albums anymore but are just releasing singles. What are your thoughts on that?
JR: You know it’s funny, I seen this format coming, because of what iTunes is doing. You know you go on iTunes, and you go to buy an album. You may go to buy the album but once you get there you know that’s a function of it, I can just get one record. I can listen to a snippet of the record and then decide if I like it or not and buy it. So with that being the business model of iTunes, which is probably one of the biggest online distributor of music, it’s inevitable that artists were going to catch on and say “You know what? I’m going to move singles versus albums.” And yeah, for the label, for a company, it’s cheaper. If I can make a million dollars every record you put out, every single you put out, why not, let’s give it a go.
Lyric: It seems like a lot less risk for everybody.
JR: Exactly. And if it doesn’t work, if the record goes out and doesn’t work, it’s not a whole album that went out and doesn’t work, you understand? There’s a big difference. People are more likely spend 99 cents or $1.99 rather than $16 or $17 for an album.
Lyric: Definitely. Easier to carry, too. So what advice would you give young people now who are trying to either break in to the music industry?
JR: RUN! GET OUT!
Lyric: Is there hope?
JR: I would tell them stay focused. Don’t let nobody crush their dreams or their hopes and be original with their music. You know I think originality is winning right now. People coming with different types of music, different styles of music, is what’s really winning. You know you get people here and there who are winning doing the same stuff that’s been going out there but I think for the most part people are excited to hear fresh new things.
Lyric: So being innovative is really important. How about just work ethic in general? What advice do you have about that? How you hustle?
JR: What you put in it is what you get out. I know that’s an old cliché, but that’s as real as it gets. If you work hard, you’re going to see results of your hard work. If you don’t work hard, then you’ll see those results. People have to drive themselves to work harder at whatever it is they want to do. Stay focused on what you want to do.
Lyric: So besides the sitcom what are you working on right now? Is that your big project besides traveling and supporting your international stuff?
JR: I’m doing that and in the midst of working deals with two reality shows as well. Movie stuff, doing some films, I’m getting a lot of good offers to do films. Some of them I have to turn down and a couple I’m really interested in.
Lyric: How did you find out about Lyric Financial?
JR: Through my contact at BMI.
Lyric: So what role has Lyric played in your life? What opportunities do you feel like Lyric has helped you achieve?
JR: Well, I’m new with Lyric, but if they can do what they say they’re going to do, we’re going to have a lot of things to talk about, we’re going to be best friends. Lyric Financial is a great company, that’s why I chose to go with you guys, and you guys chose me to be one of your first rapper type artists on the roster. I think the marriage is going to be a good one and I’m hoping and looking forward to great success with you guys.
Lyric: Anything else you want to share? Any last words?
JR: Be looking out for my new label Mpire Music Group, new artists Montana, Life, Harry-O, Suma, the whole gang, we’re coming real soon, we’re next.
