Irv Gotti, Murder Inc founder and producer of DMX, yes rule, Kanye West and others, dies aged 54 | Music

Irv Gotti, the chart-topping producer and Music Label Executive, who contributed to careers for JA Rule, Ashanti and DMX as co-founder of Murder Inc Records, have died at the age of 54.

The Grammy winner died Wednesday in New York City, told his family with the media, but they did not reveal his cause of death. Gotti’s representatives had confirmed last August that he had suffered a “minor stroke” at the beginning of 2024 and said at the time: “He has been successful in getting a full recovery.”

Def Jam, the record mark, which Murder Inc was an imprint, issued a statement on Wednesday night and said it was “deeply sad” of Gotti’s death.

“His contribution to DEF Jam, who both A&R performing and in partnership with Murder Inc, helped pave the way for the next generation of artists and producers, a strength that reshaped the soundscape of hip hop and R&B,” wrote it .

Gotti was born Irving Lorenzo, one of eight children in a Queens family, in 1970.

He rose prominently as a taste maker in the 90s and worked on Def Jam to break artists, including Jay-Z-as christened him Gotti and DMX. He had an early credit on Jay-Z’s 1996 debut album, with DJ Irv on the field, I can live.

The next year, Gotti had to sign DMX to DEF JAM before producing the rapper’s first album, it’s dark and hell is hot – a record that debuted at Nr.

Gotti’s early success led to the formation of his label, named after the early 20th century New York organized crime group. Murder Inc, which Gotti founded with his brother Chris, released his first album in 1999: Yes Rules Debut, Venni Vetti Vecci. Like DMX’s debut, Venni Vetti Vecci quickly made yes to a hip-hop star; Gotti Executive produced and had a credit on each track.

In the early 2000s, Gotti’s label was a commercial success that changed from a cult-hip-hop sound to more mainstream, radio-friendly poprap. It produced two more smash albums of JA Rule as well as signed Ashanti and released its self-tapped debut. This topped the Billboard charts and won Gotti a Grammy.

Gotti collaborated Jennifer Lopez, Eve and Alicia Keys. “People get confused because it sells like pop music,” Gotti told the Guardian in 2002. “But we make black music first and foremost and all our records are ‘hood first’.”

His image was spotted by the long -lasting feud with 50 cents and a RAID in 2003 by Hans Label’s offices of federal agents suspecting it for laundering drug money.

Two years later, Gotti and his brother were charged with money laundering, but they were acquitted of all charges.

In the midst of the controversies, Gotti Murder Inc redirected Inc as Inc. In the late 2000s, it signed Vanessa Carlton and continued to release albums by Ashanti and R&B singer Lloyd, but the label fought as artists left and distribution agreements fell through.

Gotti created Bet’s hip-hop anthology Television Series Tales as well as having produced credits on several Kanye West-tracks.

Lyor Cohen, a music contractor who had several performing roles on DEF Jam from 1988 to 2004, told The Hollywood Reporter That the label “has lost one of its most creative soldiers who were hip-hop”.

“When we were on bent knees, he brought the heat and saved our donkeys,” Cohen said. “It is an honor and a privilege to have known him. IrV, you will be missed. “