New York, NY – After a long 6 year hiatus from the industry, Ja Rule was slowly reintroducing himself back into the limelight. The media, especially MTV, has been quite interested in his whereabouts and what he’s been up to. Apparently, even the beef with arch nemesis 50 Cent doesn’t seem to faze him anymore as he states he’s grown past that. As a matter of fact, before his prison term was to commence he has been vigorously working on his new album, the sequel to his 2001 triple platinum selling ‘Pain is Love.’

Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, is scheduled to turn himself into authorities today to begin his two year prison sentence to charges of gun possession. Atkins pleaded guilty in December to attempted criminal possession of a weapon in connection with a July 2007 arrest in which the Manhattan District Attorney’s office claimed that police found a loaded semi-automatic .40-caliber Taurus handgun, with the serial number scratched off, hidden in the backseat of his Maybach.

Interestingly enough, the arrest during the same night with Wayne when they both performed together that night in Wayne’s first major show in New York. That was the initial arrest that landed the Young Money CEO in prison for an eight month stint that he served last year.

Rule turned himself in on Wednesday morning. He has been assigned to an Upstate New York correctional facility to begin serving his time. Last month, he sat down with MTV News and expressed regret over his pending jail sentence and feelings that he disappointed his wife and children.

These were his comments during an interview with Sway on MTV’s RapFix Live

“I’m disappointed, I’m mad at myself.”

During the interview, he expressed concern to his 15 year old daughter, his two young sons, and his wife.

“My daughter, she’s 15 right now. These are her last couple of years. She’s about to graduate from high school and she’s going to college. She needs her father. My boys really need me right now too, as well as my wife. They need Daddy, and Daddy fucked up.”

At press time, due to his recent commencement of his prison term, his new album ‘Pain is Love 2’ was scheduled to be released this week, but apparently has been postponed to later into the summer.

UPDATE w/ Photos

Just one and a half hours before his sentence was revealed, Ja Rule sent a Twitter message to his 50,000 followers: ‘Out on my patio having my last free moment I love all my fans Pain is love!!!’

Dressed in a grey track suit, the father-of-three signed autographs for fans before entering the courthouse and then later hugged his attorney and waved to his high school sweetheart wife, Aisha Atkins as he was led away.

Keep posted to 24hourhiphop.com for more updated news on Ja Rule, his prison stint, and his upcoming album.