Irv Gotti, Producer and Murder Inc. Records Co-Founder, Dies at 54 Years Old
The exec was synonymous to some of music’s biggest hits of the 2000s.
Producer and Murder Inc. Records co-founder Irv Gotti has died at 54 years old.
The news was confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, however a cause of death was not revealed. Gotti, whose real name is Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr., was of Filipino-American descent and was instrumental in creating some of music’s biggest hits in the early 2000s. He signed the late DMX in 1997 and oversaw the development of his debut studio album It’s Dark and Hell is Hot, as well as worked closely with the likes of superstars Ja Rule and Ashanti. The music exec’s career also included producing a track on JAY-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, and Ye’s “Violent Crimes” and “Brothers.”
“Def Jam has lost one of its most creative soldiers who was hip-hop,” Lyor Cohen, who worked with Gotti at Murder Inc. Records and currently YouTube’s global head of music, said 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.”
