Irv Gotti, cofounder of Murder Inc. Records who worked with artists including Ashanti and Ja Rule, is dead at age 54.
Multiple outlets confirmed the news on Wednesday, February 5. The cause of death is not yet known, but hip-hop record executive and manager Wack 100 told TMZ last year that Gotti had recently suffered a stoke and was diabetic.
“Irv has been struggling with diabetes for years, which caused him to have a minor stroke over six months ago,” Gotti’s representative told the outlet in August 2024. “He has since changed his diet to eating more healthy. He’s been successful in making a full recovery. Irv is not in a rehab facility. He is at home with his family, enjoying life.”
The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news of Gotti’s death.
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An icon in the music industry, he was a producer and record executive who founded Murder Inc. Records in 1998. At that label, an imprint of Def Jam Recordings, he signed Ja Rule and Ashanti as well as Jennifer Lopez, Kanye West, Fat Joe and Eve. Gotti produced megahits including Lopez and Ja Rule’s “I’m Real (Murder Remix),” the Ja Rule/Ashanti collaboration “Always on Time,” and Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?”
He first built his name working in A&R at Def Jam; there, he signed DMX and produced the rapper’s 1998 debut album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, which went multi-platinum. Gotti was also the producer on Jay-Z‘s “Can I Live,” a track from the rap legend’s 1996 album Reasonable Doubt.
“Def Jam has lost one of its most creative soldiers who was hip-hop,” Gotti’s former colleague, executive Lyor Cohen, told THR in a statement. “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 navigated controversy during the 2000s when the FBI raided Murder Inc.’s headquarters in New York City while investigating Gotti’s connection to drug lord Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. In January 2005, Gotti and his brother, Chris Gotti, were charged with money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. They were acquitted of the charges later that year.
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Murder Inc. eventually changed its name to The Inc., where Gotti produced Vanessa Carlton‘s 2007 album Heroes and Thieves alongside Rick Rubin.
Though Gotti’s career as a record exec never fully recovered after the scandal involving his brother, he later collaborated with West on the artist’s songs “Violent Crimes” and “Brothers” in 2018 and 2019.
Meanwhile, the producer’s health declined. Gotti appeared on the “Drink Champs” podcast in 2023 and said that diabetes “starts deteriorating your body” and that he was taking insulin “from time to time.”
