R.I.P. Irv Gotti, co-founder of Murder Inc. Records
Gotti was instrumental in the rise of artists like Ashanti, Ja Rule, and DMX.
Photo: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images
Irving Lorenzo Jr.—known to the music world by his professional name, Irv Gotti—has died. Through his work, first for Def Jam Records, and then as the co-founder (with his brother Chris) of Murder Inc. Records, Gotti was instrumental in the rise of a number of major artists, including DMX, Ja Rule, and Ashanti. With an eye for provocation (naming his label after an infamous murder-for-hire business, and engaging in decades-long feuds with the likes of 50 Cent, who, in typical fashion, crowed about his death on social media today), Gotti also had an undeniable eye for talent that shaped the world of music at the turn of the century. His death was confirmed earlier on Wednesday night by The Hollywood Reporter; Gotti was 54.
Born in Queens, Gotti got his start as a DJ, and it was while still using the stage name “DJ Irv” that he got his first major break: Producing one of the songs on Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt. But Gotti made his first truly indispensable contribution to the rap world not as a producer, but as an exec. Working in A&R for Def Jam in the mid-’90s, Gotti pushed the label’s leaders toward a young rapper who’d previously failed to catch fire with a debut album with Columbia Records, dragging them out to watch his friend freestyle through a wired-up mouth: Within a year, the resulting album, DMX’s It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, went quadruple-platinum, all but saving Def Jam from a slide into obscurity. Overjoyed with their new golden goose (X would end up launching 5 No. 1 albums while at the label), Def Jam gave Gotti the go-ahead to found his own sub-label in 1999, and Murder Inc. Records was born.
