Irv Gotti, the music mogul who crafted hits for Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX and Jennifer Lopez all while founding the record label Murder Inc., has died. He was 54.
The BBC reports Gotti’s 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 newspaper 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.
Born Irving…
