Ja Rule jailed for two years

The 35-year-old Grammy-nominated artist was set to start his jail term earlier this week on Wednesday – four years after being arrested with a loaded semi-automatic gun in New York.

'Laws are laws, and these are the laws of New York City,' Ja Rule told Fox News in an interview filmed on Monday night.

'Other cities are not so strict, but you know that when you're in the city of New York. There's nothing I could really do but own up to the situation and man up and take the charge.'

The New York-born star, real name Jeffrey Atkins, pleaded guilty in December to attempted criminal possession of a weapon and is expected to start his jail term in protective custody in Rikers Island.

Police had found a loaded .40-caliber semi-automatic gun in a rear door of his luxury sports car, after they stopped the platinum-selling rapper for speeding as he left a star-studded concert at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre on 22 July 2007.

Rap superstar Lil Wayne was arrested separately after headlining at the same show. He later pleaded guilty to the same charge, spending about eight months in a city jail last year.