How Irv Gotti Changed The Culture

In the late 90s, Hip-hop and R&B were in the midst of a golden era characterized by chart-topping hits, huge tours, and household names making their splash in the world of cinema.

At the epicenter of much of the movement was a record executive with a penchant for blending both genres and his name was Irv Gotti. He was one part music producer, one part DJ, and an all-around visionary responsible for much of the sound we heard in the early 2000s.

Irv was the one who took the formula of pairing R&B with street rap to new heights, and though the new generation of rap fans have chased after early 2000s nostalgia, they may not be aware of the actual music from that time or Irv’s legacy.

But don’t trip; we’re gonna talk about that right now.

ON JUNE 26TH 1970…

Irving Lorenzo was born. He was the last of Papi and Nee Nee Lorenzo’s eight children, all of whom they raised in New York City.

Irv got into DJing at a young age after his older brother Chris copped him a set of turntables to practice on, and with time, he became a skilled DJ.

By his late teens, he was starting to DJ locally around New York, carving a name for himself on the scene as DJ Irv.

Irv’s days DJing set him forth on a path that would change his trajectory forever, and it ultimately was the catalyst for many of the relationships that allowed him to impact the 90s Hip-hop scene.

Fun fact: Irv was actually given the name Irv Gotti by Jay Z after Jay tapped him to work on Reasonable Doubt. Jay joked to the crew that he needed a smoother name than Irving—something like “Irv Gotti,” and it stuck.

He Connected Jay-Z & DMX w/ Def Jam

By the mid-80s, Irv had built a reputable name for himself in New York as a DJ.

He eventually crossed paths with a budding New York rapper named Jaz-O, who invited him to London to DJ for him. While there, he met Sean Carter, who we all know as…

JAY-Z.

That London trip was the start of their relationship, which later led to Irv producing “Can I Live” from Jay Z’s debut album “Reasonable Doubt” — a record that Irv says was created literally right after Jay got off the highway from making a “trip” outta town.

After connecting with Jay, he eventually got word of an emcee in Yonkers named DMX who he should check out. After meeting X, Irv fostered a relationship with him and promised that he’d put him on.

At the time, Irv was signed to TVT Records, and he continued to build his name in the music industry by DJing and also helped Jay Z with his debut album, Reasonable Doubt.

Irv leveraged his relationship with Kevin Lyles to help break Jay’s single “Ain’t No N****” via The Nutty Professor soundtrack.

That move put him in the crosshairs of Lyor Cohen, who eventually offered Irv a position at Def Jam as an A&R.

One of the first things he tried to do at Def Jam was sign DMX. However, Lyor actually passed on X, which caused Irv to quit his new gig.

Lyor approached Irv about coming back, and as for his only condition for coming back?

It was signing DMX.

Def Jam agreed, which started DMX's run at the label.

As we all know, it started with two classics dropping in the same calendar year, which helped usher in the Ruff Ryders dynasty.

These moves proved that Irv was a visionary, and he was able to parlay this into an even bigger play:

Murder Inc., The Supergroup

An often forgotten (or less talked about) part of Hip-hop history is that Irv actually created a supergroup after founding Murder Inc. — a self-titled crew consisting of Jay-Z, DMX, and Ja-Rule (yes, you read that correctly).

Yep, that’s right.

Before the label Murder Inc. emerged in the 2000s that consisted of Ja, Ashanti, etc., there was actually Murder Inc. the group, albeit short-lived.

As Irv tells it, the energy of this group eventually led to a bunch of collaborations and one of the highest-grossing tours in HIp-hop History…

The Hard Knock Life Tour

What made this moment so monumental was that Jay and DMX already had their own movements going on the solo front.

For Jay, it was all about Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, which featured “Can I Get A,” — a record he originally got from Irv & Ja Rule, and DMX had just sold millions with “It’s Dark & Hell Is Hot” and “Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood.” (see the clip of Irv above for context)

The success of records and the Hard Knock Life tour propelled Irv to a new level, manifesting in his own label, Murder Inc.

Murder Inc., The Label

After getting his label deal, Irv shifted his focus to working on Ja Rule’s career, although I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the members of Murda Inc, like Vita, who was actually featured in the movie Belly, and the first female act on Murder Inc., and Charli Baltimore is another female emcee who was involved in Murder Inc. but eventually left the label due to internal strife with Irv.

Despite that, there were a few marquee artists who defined the Murder Inc. sound and its success.

I. Ja Rule

When you mention iconic Hip-hop producer/rapper duos, you normally hear Snoop & Dre and, more recently, Future and Metro. Irv and Ja Rule are in that convo, too.

Their run was unmatched, and it was fueled by a formula that Irv learned from Mary J & Method Man years later with “All I Need.”

Ja’s run started after coming off the road from The Hard Knock Life Tour.

He began working on his debut solo album, Venni Vetti Vecci, which featured “Holla Holla " and went multi-platinum within the first year.

But as we know, this was only the beginning.

Irv’s prowess at producing records and rolling out projects was getting more refined, and when paired with Ja’s talent, the golden era of Murder Inc. was about to begin.

II. Ashanti

Ashanti helped usher in a sound of R&B records that Murda Inc.’s legacy became defined by.

Initially, she started as a background vocalist on a few Murder Inc. records, but her first big record was How We Roll — a Fat Joe record posthumously featuring Big Pun.

But Songs like What’s Love, and Always on Time that she did with Fat Joe and Ja Rule ended up becoming chart toppers. Her next few solo albums did numbers, and she was officially The First Lady of R&B.

III. Lloyd

Although their time together was short, partially because of internal turmoil at Murder Inc., Lloyd’s first two albums and some of his biggest records were recorded under Irv’s watch.

Songs like “Get It Shawty” and “You,” which dominated urban radio in the mid-2000s, are products of the Inc.

MUSIC SOUNDTRACK PLAYS

A. JAY-Z - AIN’T NO …..

Jay had this record slated for his debut album, but Irv was largely responsible for getting it that next-level attention.

Pairing it with a soundtrack was an ingenious way to launch Jay Z into the market, and it gave him the needed push to finally gain attention from major labels that had been overlooking him.

This single became so popular that it eventually caught the attention of Lyor Cohen. Lyor inked a joint venture with Rocafella Records, and the rest is history.

B. JAY-Z & JA-RULE: CAN I GET A

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?

The rollout for Reasonable Doubt worked so well that Irv also managed to get the soon-to-be-single featuring Ja Rule on the soundtrack for Rush Hour, which also featured Chris Rock and Jackie Chan—both of whom were on fire in the film world.

The record was already moving, but soundtracks in those days helped take things to another level.

C. DMX & AALIYAH - COME BACK IN ONE PIECE

Irv also managed to get a joint that he produced on the soundtrack for the cult classic film Romeo Must Die, where DMX and Aaliyah also had on-screen roles.

He Brought His Vision to Film & TV

From the soundtrack work, you can probably guess that Irv was really embedded in that world, but the extent of his work in film and TV isn’t discussed as much.

He was the executive producer on Growing Up Hip-hop New York, a writer on multiple shows, and in 2018, Irv created a BET show named “Tales.”

Tales featured one-hour episodes that were dramatic retellings of classic Hip-hop records. At the time, it represented a new era of content for BET. It ultimately ran for five seasons and made an impact on the network.

EPILOGUE

Without Irv Gotti, you likely wouldn’t have the careers of many of the artists we know and love today or the famous R&B sound of Murder Inc., and the world would be less for it.

His penchant for producing records and breaking them was unparalleled, and because of him, we’ve had some of the biggest moments in Hip-hop history.

If you don’t do anything else today, check out some of Irv’s catalog (a catalog which he was able to sell for the tune of $200 million to finance his next big film projects)

A giant in the culture. A Creator of Vibes. A visionary.

One.