Irv Gotti, the chart-topping producer and music label executive who was instrumental in the careers of Ja Rule, Ashanti and DMX as the co-founder of Murder Inc Records, has died at the age of 54.

The Grammy winner died on Wednesday in New York City, his family told media, but they did not reveal his cause of death. Gotti’s representatives had confirmed last August he had suffered a “minor stroke” in early 2024, saying at the time: “He’s been successful in making a full recovery.”

​Def Jam, the record label of which Murder Inc was an imprint, issued a statement on Wednesday night saying it was “deeply saddened” by Gotti’s death.

“His contributions at Def Jam, as both an A&R executive and in partnership with Murder Inc, helped pave the way for the next generation of artists and producers, a force that reshaped the soundscape of hip hop and R&B,” it wrote.

Gotti was born Irving Lorenzo, one of eight children in a Queens family, in 1970.

He rose to prominence as a tastemaker in the 90s, working at Def Jam to break artists including Jay-Z – who christened him Gotti – and DMX. He had an early credit on Jay-Z’s 1996 debut album, featuring as DJ Irv on the track Can I Live.

The next year Gotti helped sign DMX to Def Jam before executive producing the rapper’s first album, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot – a record which debuted at No 1 on the Billboard charts, sold 5m copies worldwide, and immediately established DMX as a major MC.

Gotti’s early success led to the formation of his label, named after the early 20th-century New York organised crime group. Murder Inc, which Gotti founded with his brother Chris, released its first album in 1999: Ja Rule’s debut, Venni Vetti Vecci. Like DMX’s debut, Venni Vetti Vecci quickly made Ja Rule a hip-hop star; Gotti executive produced and had a credit on every track.

By the early 2000s Gotti’s label was a commercial success, transitioning from a cult hip-hop sound to more mainstream, radio-friendly pop rap. It produced two more smash albums by Ja Rule as well as signing Ashanti and releasing her self-titled debut. This topped the Billboard chartsand won Gotti a Grammy.

Gotti collaborated Jennifer Lopez, Eve and Alicia Keys. “People get confused because it sells like pop music,” Gotti told the Guardian in 2002. “But we make black music first and foremost, and all our records is ‘hood first’.”

His image was tarnished by Ja Rule’s long-running feud with 50 Cent and a raid in 2003 of his label’s offices by federal agents who suspected it of laundering drug money.

Two years later Gotti and his brother were charged with money laundering but they were acquitted of all charges.

Amid the controversies, Gotti rebranded Murder Inc as The Inc. In the late 2000s it signed Vanessa Carlton and continued to release albums by Ashanti and the R&B singer Lloyd but the label struggled as artists left and distribution deals fell through.

Gotti created BET’s hip-hop anthology television series Tales, as well as having producing credits on several Kanye West tracks.

Lyor Cohen, a music entrepreneur who held several executive roles at Def Jam from 1988 to 2004, told the Hollywood Reporter that the label “has lost one of its most creative soldiers who was hip-hop”.

“When we were on bended knee, he brought the heat and saved our asses,” Cohen said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to have known him. Irv, you will be missed.”

• Music
• Hip-hop
• Rap
• news