Irv Gotti, the US music producer who created hits for Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX, and Jennifer Lopez, has died at the age of 54.
Best known as the founder of the record label Murder Inc., his signature style of blending hip-hop beats with smooth R&B melodies shaped the sound of the charts in the late 90s and early 2000s.
As a writer and producer, his multi-platinum hits included the J-Lo and Ja Rule duets Ain’t It Funny and I’m Real, the Ashanti tracks Foolish and Always on Time, and Fat Joe’s What’s Luv?.
“People get confused because it sells like pop music,” he told the Guardian in 2002. “But we make black music first and foremost, and all our records is ‘hood first’.”
A cause of death has not been announced, but the music mogul had battled diabetes-related issues and suffered what was described as a “minor stroke” in early 2024.
At the time, Gotti’s representatives said he had changed his diet and had been “successful in making a full recovery”.
Born Irving Lorenzo in Hollis, Queens, in 1971, his career began as a producer for New York MC Mic Geronimo, under the moniker DJ Irv.
His big break came when he contributed to Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt, in 1996. The rapper christened him the “don of hip-hop”, renaming him Irv Gotti in reference to the mafia boss John Gotti.
His next move was to sign gravel-voiced rapper DMX to the legendary rap label Def Jam Records.
The label was in the middle of a rough patch, losing ground to Sean Combs’ flashy, aspirational Bad Boy Inc label. DMX was the antidote to Combs’ style – stripped back, raw and connected to the street.
With Gotti as executive producer, his debut album, It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, sold four million copies in the US and spawned the hip-hop classic Ruff Ryders’ Anthem.
It also saved Def Jam’s reputation.
“When we were on bended knee, [Irv] brought the heat and saved our asses,” said Lyor Cohen, who was chief executive of the label from 1998 to 2004, and now serves as YouTube’s head of music.
