We are saddened to report that Irv Gotti, a music executive and producer who launched the careers of Ja Rule, DMX, and Ashanti, has died. He was 54. DefJam Records confirmed his death in a statement. Gotti and his brother, Chris, built a Hip-Hop and R&B empire and founded Murder Inc., a successful imprint of the DefJam label.
While Gotti’s cause of death has not been announced, the music mogul had suffered a series of strokes and had also battled some diabetes-related health complications.
According to the New York Times, Gotti was born Irving Lorenzo Domingo Junior in Queens, New York. He was the youngest of eight children, and his father was a taxi driver. When he was a teen, his siblings gave him a turntable and a mixer, which he played with and practiced on. At 15, he began DJing parties.
According to the New York Times, Gotti started his career as a talent scout. He is credited with helping discover rap stars like Jay-Z and DMX before securing a position in A&R at Def Jam.
Gotti executive produced DMX’s 1998 debut album, “It’s Dark and Hell is Hot,” which debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart. According to Billboard, Ja Rule became Murder Inc.’s flagship artist. Between 1999 and 2005, the rapper amassed 17 Hot 100 Hits, including three number 1s.
Gotti also discovered R&B singer Ashanti, who had three hits in 2002. Billboard lists them: Ja Rule’s “Always on Time,” featuring Ashanti, was a two-week Hot 100 No. 1; Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?,” featuring Ashanti, peaked at No. 2; and her own “Foolish” spent 10 weeks atop the Hot 100.
Billboard also notes that Gotti is credited as a producer on 28 charting Hot 100 hits, from Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Fat Joe, and Ye.
Murder Inc. and the Gotti brothers faced challenges when their offices were raided by the FBI, and they were put on trial for alleged money laundering for their association with Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. But they were acquitted by a federal jury in 2005.
After the acquittal, Gotti renamed the label The Inc. and worked with artists including Vanessa Carlton, Christina Milian, Memphis Bleek, and Kanye West.
Later, he became interested in television and film projections, including BET Tales, a scripted anthology series of song stories that turned hip-hop lyrics into mini-movies.
The Hollywood Reporter talked to Lyor Cohen, former CEO at Def Jam, about Gotti’s passing and he said,
“Def Jam has lost one of its most creative soldiers who was hip-hop,” says Lyor Cohen, who held chief executive roles at the label from 1988 to 2004 and was a presence from its nascent days (he currently serves as 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.”
Gotti is survived by his three children, Angie, Sonny, and Jonathan Wilson; his mother, Nee Nee Lorenzo; sisters, Tina and Angie; and his brother, Chris Lorenzo, with whom he co-founded Murder Inc.
