The 27th annual Angel Ball, which benefits cancer research, takes place Monday night in New York City, and among the performers lending their time and talents is Ja Rule.<\/p>\n
The iconic rapper’s voice was the soundtrack to the early 2000s.<\/p>\n
There was a time when every song on the radio seemed to be a Ja Rule hit, but before the platinum records and the fame, there was Jeffrey Atkins — a kid from Hollis, Queens, secretly listening to rap music of something new.<\/p>\n
Entertainment reporter Joelle Garguilo caught up with him at Amali Restaurant on the East Side, and it turns out, Ja Rule has a lot to celebrate these days.<\/p>\n
Joelle Garguilo:<\/strong> I smile thinking about your music because I could put myself in a certain spot, in a certain car.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> That’s what music does. It’s that memory, the moments. You share these moments, you know, throughout your life with special people. That music becomes a soundtrack to those moments, and you never forget certain moments. That’s the beauty of hip hop.<\/p>\n Now decades later, Ja Rule is still that kid from Queens just with a few more stories to tell, and now a new title to add.<\/p>\n Garguilo:<\/strong> This is a good day to announce that you’re going to be a grandpa.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> I don’t know if I announced it prematurely.<\/p>\n Garguilo:<\/strong> I think you did.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> Gets to tell a big mouth dad, big mouth, big papa.<\/p>\n Garguilo:<\/strong> You spill all the beans. What are you manifesting for the future then with that said?<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> Being the best grandfather that I could be. My father, the lesson that he taught me was his absence. So, he gave me the greatest lesson. He did. I didn’t ever want to be absent. You know? Part of being a man in life is shown. Being there when you’re supposed to be there.<\/p>\n With his first grandchild on the way and fresh off of a successful tour, Ja Rule is still finding time to lend his voice to causes close to his heart, like Monday night’s Angel Ball for cancer research, and even a school.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> I’m a stickler on education. I didn’t graduate from high school. I dropped out of 11th grade and went and got my GED in prison. For me to be able to build a school, it built a moment for me. When people come together for a good cause and have good intentions, great things happen. My opening monologue to my tour was if your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough. Never stop dreaming.<\/p>\n Garguilo:<\/strong> Oh, that’s good. And that’s and that’s true.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> When you do right and you work hard, good things do happen. And I know it sounds very cliche.<\/p>\n Garguilo:<\/strong> I believe that.<\/p>\n Ja Rule:<\/strong> But it’s very, very true.<\/p>\n ———-<\/span><\/div>\n
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