Nairobi — Controversial Murder Inc hip-hop head, Ja Rule, is in Nairobi to rock Carnivore tonight, in a sold out concert. In an exclusive interview, Charles Otieno talked to the multiple Grammy nominee and actor.

Ten years since an American artiste performed here, Ja Rule (Jeffrey Atkins) has landed on Kenyan soil. The former teen prodigy arrived on Wednesday for a three-day visit, during which he plans to hold a concert at the Carnivore grounds. He will also hand over the keys to the winner of the Celtel Kenya Win a Porsche World Cup promotion. He leaves on Saturday for Dar-es-Salaam, where he will hold another concert, before jetting back to the US.

The rapper is only the third major hip-hop act to perform in Kenya after Coolio and the Lost Boyz, back in 1996. "It's going to be totally off the chains," said Ja Rule in a telephone interview from New York. "It about the Rule. I'm a live wire act and all my fans should come and check me out electrifying. If Nairobi is crazy then I will be more crazy tonight."

The rap phenomenon, who rose to fame with his distinctive growl and amazing stage presence, will perform some of his greatest rhymes and a few songs from his upcoming album for Kenyan fans to sample.

"I have a new incredible album coming out and it is the best album of my career," he says. "I love Kenya and I love travelling abroad. I cannot wait for the show," he adds.

The rapper's new album follows hot on the heels of another great album, Exodus Greatest Hits (2005). He has been on tour for a couple of weeks now.

"Everybody in Nairobi, I cannot wait to see ya'll, It's gonna be crazy with Murder Inc in the building."

Ja Rule, however, rubbished rumours that Ashanti was coming to town. He explained that the chanteuse was otherwise occupied. "Its just the Rule because the bunny is too busy working on an album and finishing a movie," he says. He also shed light on Ashanti's pregnancy rumours. It has been alleged that the comely singer was expectant with rapper Nelly or Murder Inc's producer, Irvi Gotti's child. "The bunny is not pregnant," Atkins said firmly.

According to international reports, a yearlong probe into an alleged financial link between Irvi Gotti and a New York drug gang called the 'Supreme Team' culminated in a raid on Murder Inc offices last year. American authorities are reportedly investigating whether or not money from drug trafficking helped Gotti (real name Irving Lorenzo) break into the music scene. Specifically, US police are reportedly investigating an alleged link between Gotti and Kenneth McGriff, the convicted head of the 'Supreme Team'. The New York Times also reported that authorities are looking into allegations of money laundering and a number of attacks.

Ja Rule has also been embroiled in a vicious fight for supremacy with In da club rapper 50 Cent and his group, G-Unit, in the rap industry. Trouble began when Ja Rule spotted 50 Cent alongside the man who had supposedly robbed Ja Rule of a necklace. 50 Cent alleges that, at the time, he did not know this fact. However, Ja Rule claimed that 50 Cent started the feud himself because he didn't like that Ja Rule was getting "too much love" in New York city according to his interview with the minister of the Nation of Islam. Later, 50 Cent visited the set of Ja Rule's video 4 Life, which was being shot on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, a centre point between both their neibourhoods of Southside Jamaica and Hollis.

He says that 50 Cent wanted to be part of the shoot since the hip-hop heads come from the same hood. Word is 50 Cent supposedly greeted Ja Rule with a "What's up?", to which he replied, "A'ight, what up?" Apparently, that wasn't good enough.

50 Cent then 'dissed' Ja Rule to bring attention to himself. When he made the record, How to Rob, 50 Cent talked about how he was going to rob all the major rappers and artistes. He released another track Murder, I Don't Believe You, (Life's on the Line). This set Ja Rule's head spinning and the moment they saw each other after the track was released, it was an immediate brawl confrontation. "We don't like each other," he admits. Ja Rule released a track Loose Change. In the song he 'dissed' Shady/Aftermath camp, Busta Rhymes, Lil' Mo and manager Chris Lighty. The Shady/Aftermath cats, Eminem, 50 Cent and Busta retaliated in freestyle Hail Mary over the same 2-Pac beat. Some of 50 Cent's lyrical low blows included calling Ja Rule, Irv Gotti, Blackchild and Caddillac Tah names in various tracks.

Benzino joined the fray and 'dissed' Shady/Aftermath alongside Ja Rule in abrasive retort, Guess Who Shot Ya. Obviously, Ja Rule wasn't absolved from levying disrespect. On Guess Who Shot Ya' he rhymes, "Your heart ain't cut for the code of the streets/ You're wondering, 'Is it Murder who shot me?'" over the same beat Notorious BIG rapped to for his Who Shot Ya. Ja Rule recorded the song the night before he laid his vocals down for Loose Change, on which he implies that Eminem's daughter, Haile, might grow up to be a "slut" like her mother. In an earlier interview, Ja Rule is quoted as saying that 50 Cent accused the Inc of being false tough guys. The two sides later had a scuffle while staying at the same hotel in Atlanta, where 50 and Ja were booked on the same bill. The violence hit its zenith in 2000 when 50 suffered minor stab wounds at New York's Hit Factory studio when the Incsters rushed him. Blackchild claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self- defence, because he thought someone was reaching for a gun.

Born in 1976, Ja Rule exploded out of nowhere with his debut Def Jam album, Venni Vetti Vecci and its successful lead single Holla Holla. The Hollis, Queens, native had actually paid plenty of dues before being catapulted to superstar status.

Ja Rule made his first appearance on Mic Geronimo's 1995 B-side, Time to Build, and Jay-Z's Can I Get A a massive urban radio and MTV hit from late 1998. He moonlighted in the Cash Money Click collective, which scored a deal with TVT Records that, unfortunately, only resulted in a sole single, 1995's Get the Fortune. He was later signed on with Def Jam and released his debut album Venni Vetti Vecci (ostensibly taken from Julius Caeser's famous line 'Veni vidi vici', meaning 'I came, I saw, I conquered), in 1999. The album featured Jay-Z and DMX on It's Murda. The lead single Holla Holla went platinum. Ja Rule's affiliation with both the Ruff Ryders and Roc-A-Fella camps guaranteed him plenty of appearances on a host of artists' albums, including the massive Ruff Ryders, Vol 1 album. Following the success of 1999, Ja Rule retreated from the spotlight for the majority of 2000, returning in October with his follow-up album, Rule 3:36.

Ja Rule has also established a successful career in film. He has appeared in ten movies including, Rob Cohen's blockbuster The Fast and The Furious in 2001, Don Michael Paul's Half Past Dead with Steven Segal in 2002, David Zucker's smash Scary Movie 3 with the Wayans brothers in 2003, The Cookout with Queen Latifah in 2004 and Shall We Dance? with Richard Gere in 2006. Atkins is an only child and was brought up by a single mother as a Jehovah's Witness. He says that being a Jehovah's Witness is a very strict religion and they have something called "disfellowshipping" or "disassociating" if you do something outside their beliefs. And they have a lot of beliefs that are hard on kids, hard on human beings. "You can't hang with worldly people, people outside Jehovah's, and so my mom got disassociated from it because she liked to go out with her co-workers and have a drink or two."