Irv Gotti has died, age 54

News of the Murder Inc. mogul’s death was confirmed in a Def Jam statement.

Irv Gotti, who founded Murder Inc. Records alongside his brother and released music by Ja Rule and Ashanti among others, has died. Gotti was 54.

News of Gotti’s death was confirmed in a statement by Murder Inc.’s parent label, Def Jam Recordings, on Wednesday. The statement did not include a cause of death or a date on which he died but described him as “a force that reshaped the soundscape of hip-hop and R&B.”

Gotti was born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. in the Queens neighborhood of Hollis and, prior to launching Murder Inc., worked in A&R for Def Jam at the time they signed artists including Jay-Z and DMX. He is listed as an executive producer of DMX’s 1998 debut album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot and also produced “Can I Live,” from Jay-Z’s debut album Reasonable Doubt.

Then a rising mogul, Gotti was given his own imprint in 1999. He signed Ja Rule to the newly established Murder Inc., having previously worked with the artist when he was a member of Ca$h Money Click. The label was a staple of the early 2000s scene, releasing Ja Rule’s debut album Venni Vetti Vecci, “Foolish” by Ashanti,” plus the soundtrack to the first Fast and the Furious movie.

“I’m important in America because of hip-hop,” Gotti said in The Murder Inc. Story, a BET documentary series released in 2022. “I love hip-hop with a passion.”

In 2003, Murder Inc.’s New York offices were raided by the F.B.I. A federal investigation into whether the label was founded with drug money soon followed with Gotti facing charges of laundering money for convicted gang leader, Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff. In 2005, Chris and Irv Gotti were acquitted of all charges and the label subsequently dropped “Murder” from its name.