Ja Rule to Pursue Higher Education: Urged by Dennis Kozlowski, Alan Hevesi

Rapper Ja Rule says prison life is amazing and he is certainly making the most of his time being locked away. The rapper, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, said he will be pursing higher education after once high-powered inmates - ex-New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi and ex-Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski - urged him to do so.

Ja Rule will be taking college-level courses later this month, The Associated Press reproted.

Ja Rule has been locked away in a Mid-State Correctional Facility in Oneida, N.Y., since June, where he is serving two years for gun possession.

The New York Daily News reported that Ja Rule found a new posse in Hevesi and Kozlowski whom he affectionately calls Hevey D and Koz. The rapper is reportedly getting stock tips from Kozlowski and has heard about the perennial impasse in Albany from Hevesi. They all watched Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert together, the Daily News reported.

Outside, you don't meet guys like this every day, Ja Rule told the Daily News. This place is amazing.

Kozlowski was found guilty in 2005 of looting his employer. He was sentenced to up to 25 years in prison. Last year, Hevesi was sentenced to one to four years in prison for his role in a scandal involving the state pension fund.

The rapper is scheduled to leave prison in February 2013. He is also gearing up for his new album, Pain is Love 2. The album will be out Feb. 28 and Ja Rule told the paper he didn't have much time to record the last cuts of the long-awaited album. This was because cops found a gun in his Maybach.

My back was against the wall, he told the paper. I didn't think we'd have time to do what I set out to do, but it came together much better than I could ever imagine.

Watch the Daily News' interview with Ja Rule below: