NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Irv Gotti, a music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records and was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule, has died. He was 54.
Def Jam Recordings, which was the parent company of Murder Inc., announced Gotti's death in a statement late Wednesday night. It did not give a cause of death.
Gotti, whose real name is Irving Lorenzo, founded Murder Inc. with his brother in the late 1990s, with the label gaining worldwide prominence through platinum-selling artists Ashanti and Ja Rule. Gotti had also worked with artists DMX, Fat Joe and Jay-Z, among other huge names in the genre.
鈥淗is creative genius and unwavering dedication to the culture birthed countless hits, defining an era of music that continues to resonate with fans worldwide,鈥 the statement from Def Jam read.
The label, which got its name after Gotti watched a documentary on the original Murder, Inc. crew of mob hitmen, once came under investigation for allegedly laundering drug money for a notorious crack kingpin, leading to criminal charges against Gotti. He was eventually acquitted.
The bad press around the investigation led to Gotti dropping the word 鈥淢urder鈥 from the title of the label to change its name to The Inc.
鈥淎ll of these big records, and people would still come back and focus on the negative word 鈥榤urder,'鈥 he said when he announced the change.
Still, Gotti never changed the nickname he shared with the late Gambino family boss John Gotti, which he said was given to him by Jay-Z.
鈥淚 ain鈥檛 going to change it," he said of his name.
Lyor Cohen, a former Def Jam executive who is now global head of music at YouTube and Google, said 鈥淒ef Jam has lost one of it鈥檚 most creative soldiers.鈥
鈥淗e was hip hop, and 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鈥檚 an honor and a privilege to have known him. Irv you will be missed,鈥 Cohen said in a statement.
