Irv Gotti

Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), known professionally as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and record executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R talent scout for TVT Records in 1995 and moved to Def Jam Recordings in 1997. He co-founded the record label Murder Inc. Records with his brother Chris in 1999, which was an imprint of Def Jam. Gotti is credited with having helped discover or sign rappers Jay-Z, DMX, Vita, Charli Baltimore, and Ja Rule, as well as singers Ashanti and Lloyd. Gotti executive produced the debut albums for DMX (It's Dark and Hell Is Hot), Ja Rule (Venni Vetti Vecci), Ashanti (Ashanti) and Lloyd (Southside). He received production credits for most of the recordings by artists signed to the label—including Ja Rule (Rule 3:36, Pain Is Love, The Last Temptation, R.U.L.E.), The Inc. (Irv Gotti Presents: The Inc.), Ashanti (Chapter II, Concrete Rose), and Lloyd (Street Love)—as well as singles for other artists such as Jennifer Lopez ("I'm Real (Murder Remix)", "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)"), Fat Joe ("What's Luv"), Eve ("Gangsta Lovin'"), and Kanye West ("Violent Crimes"), among others. Rolling Stone magazine and The New York Times described Gotti as one of the architects of hip-hop and R&B fusion of the late 1990s and early 2000s, earning 28 Billboard Hot 100 hits, four went to number one on the charts. In 2002, Gotti received a Guinness World Record for having produced a Billboard Hot 100 single that held the number one position for nineteen weeks consecutively. Gotti won a Grammy Award in 2003 and was nominated once more in 2004, both were for his work with Ashanti. He won nineteen BMI Awards and was named BMI...