Irv Gotti, music producer and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records, has died at 54, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. The cause of death remains undisclosed.
Gotti rose to fame in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his significant influence on the hip-hop and R&B sound of that time. He collaborated with numerous successful artists, such as Ja Rule, Ashanti, and DMX, contributing to their hit songs. His distinctive production style, which combined hip-hop beats with catchy melodic hooks, became a hallmark of many rap and R&B crossover tracks that topped the charts from 2001 to 2004. Noteworthy collaborations include Ja Rule and Jennifer Lopez's "Always On Time," "I'm Real," and "Ain't It Funny," as well as Ashanti's hits "Foolish," "Rain on Me," and "Mesmerize."
Before establishing Murder Inc. Records in 1998 in New York City, Gotti was an A&R at Def Jam, where he played a role in bringing iconic artists like DMX, Jay-Z, and Ja Rule to the label. Under the alias DJ Irv, he also produced Jay-Z's "Can I Live" from the album Reasonable Doubt. The label, later known as The Inc., also signed Vanessa Carlton, with Gotti co-producing her 2007 album Heroes and Thieves alongside Rick Rubin and Stephan Jenkins of Third Eye Blind.
Gotti's production credits include work with artists such as Kanye West, Memphis Bleek, Fat Joe, and Christina Milian. He also released several albums under his own name. Lyor Cohen, former CEO of Def Jam, honored Gotti, saying, “Def Jam has lost one of its most creative soldiers who embodied hip-hop. He supported us in critical times and made a difference. Knowing him was an honor, and he will be missed.”
Although Gotti's career encountered difficulties in the mid-2000s due to an FBI investigation into alleged ties with drug kingpin Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, which ended in his acquittal, the incident damaged Murder Inc.'s reputation. In recent years, Gotti reinvented himself by entering television with the creation of Tales, a BET anthology series that merges hip-hop music with storytelling.
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