Photo Credit: Irv Gotti by 2C2K Photography / CC by 2.0
Irv Gotti, the co-founder of Murder Inc. Records who helped make superstars out of Ja Rule and Ashanti, has died following a debilitating stroke. He was 54.
Irv Gotti (born Domingo Lorenzo Jr.) and his brother Chris launched Murder Inc. in 1998 as an imprint of Def Jam, where Irv worked as an A&R executive after successfully bringing DMX to the label. Murder Inc.’s first release was Ja Rule’s 1999 debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, and Ja became the label’s flagship artist.
From there, the Gotti brothers were on the rise. In addition to Ja Rule, Irv discovered singer Ashanti when she was just a teen. Her three biggest hits all came in 2002, with Ja Rule’s “Always On Time,” Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?”, and her own hit “Foolish,” which spent 10 weeks atop the Hot 100.
Through Murder Inc., Ja Rule also aided Jennifer Lopez’s rising career with features on “I’m Real” (which Gotti co-wrote), and “Ain’t It Funny,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five and six weeks, respectively.
Gotti won a Grammy in 2003 for co-producing Ashanti’s eponymous debut album, which won Best Contemporary R&B. He was nominated again the following year for co-writing Ashanti’s “Rock Wit U (Awww Baby),” which was up for Best R&B Song.
He is credited as a producer on 28 Hot 100-charting hits, including those from Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX, Mary J. Blige, Fat Joe, and Kanye West. Gotti also scored a Top 10 hit with his own track, “Down 4 U,” which peaked at No. 6 in 2002 and featured Ja Rule, Ashanti, Charli Baltimore, and Vita.
“Def Jam has lost one of its most creative soldiers who was hip-hop,” said Lyor Cohen, a Def Jam executive from 1988 to 2004, and current global head of music at YouTube. “When we were on bended knee, he brought the heat and saved our asses. He comes from a very tight, beautiful family from Queens, and it’s an honor and a privilege to have known him. Irv, you will be missed.”
The Gotti brothers and Murder Inc. as a whole were hit with numerous legal issues over the years. This includes a federal raid on the label’s headquarters in 2003 as part of an investigation linking Irv and Chris to accused drug lord Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. Two years later, the brothers were found not guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money.
Last year, Gotti was sued for sexual assault and rape by a Jane Doe plaintiff who alleged the hip-hop mogul abused her while she was in a relationship with him from 2020 to 2022.
