Irv Gotti - WikiHQ

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 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. He won nineteen BMI Awards and was named BMI Songwriter of the Year in 2002, 2003, and 2004. He was a two time nominee for the MOBO Awards in 2002 and 2003, and was nominated for three Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards in 2002 and one in 2003.

Two highly publicized incidents surrounding Gotti occurred around the turn of the century, the first being a feud between Murder Inc. and G-Unit from 1999 to 2003. The second occurred from 2002 to 2005 when the United States government opened a three-year-long investigation and trial on the relationship of the Lorenzo brothers and Murder Inc. with drug lord Kenneth McGriff, where Gotti and his brother Chris, received acquittal of money-laundering charges.

Gotti pivoted to television in the late 2000s first starring in the VH1 reality show Gotti's Way from 2007 to 2009. He was the creator of the 2017–2022 BET series Tales, which was produced through his entertainment production company, Visionary Ideas. In July 2022, he sold the rights to his master recordings, through a multi-million dollar production deal with Iconoclast. Gotti had other shows and movies in development at the time of his death.

Early life

Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. was born in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York City, on June 26, 1970. Lorenzo was of African-American and Filipino descent, though he was commonly mistaken for having Dominican heritage. His father Irving was a taxicab driver and dispatcher. He was the youngest of eight siblings, including two sisters and an older brother named Christopher, who later became known as Chris Gotti.

Career

1985–1996: Early career and TVT

Gotti's career started as a preteen when his sister Christina bought him turntables for his birthday. Under the moniker DJ Irv, he would make mixtapes with beats and DJ mixes in the family basement, selling them for $10 at local barbershops. According to rapper Jaz-O, Gotti was one of the first to do hip-hop street mixtapes. Many of his initial mixtape customers were hustlers and drug dealers, and for a brief period Gotti was a small-time dealer of both cocaine and crack cocaine. After a run in with local police, however, he left the trade. By the age of fifteen, Gotti would go on to DJ at parties at local parks and nightclubs in Queens. In 1988, Gotti, under the moniker DJ Irv, produced and independently distributed the 1993 recording of "Shit's Real" by Mic Geronimo; the single was re-released in 1994 under Blunt/TVT. This helped Gotti secure a job as a talent scout in the A&R department at the record label, where he was hired by Steve Gottlieb During his time at TVT, he signed Mic Geronimo and Queens-based rap group Cash Money Click, of which rapper Ja Rule was a member, after discovering them in 1991. Gotti produced songs on Mic Geronimo's 1995 debut album The Natural, which rap supergroup Murder Inc. consisting of DMX, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z was first featured on the song "Time to Build". Jay-Z claimed DJ Irv to be "The Don of Hip-Hop", giving him the moniker Irv Gotti, which was inspired by mobster John Gotti. through Gotti, Def Jam signed DMX. Initially, there was a dispute over signing DMX and Gotti had threatened to leave the company if they did not follow through with signing him. The album went on to sell four million copies in the United States, being certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA, and sold five million copies worldwide.

Gotti was an A&R for Def Jam on the 1997 albums Back in Business by EPMD, How to Be a Player soundtrack and the 1998 albums Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood by DMX, the Belly soundtrack, and the Rush Hour soundtrack. One of his last major singles produced under solely Def Jam was "Hot Spot" by Foxy Brown. 50 Cent would be featured in his first studio release on the 1998 single "React" for the Onyx album Shut 'Em Down which Gotti was the A&R for. He also advised a young Pitbull in 1998 to focus on writing records instead of only freestyle rapping. In 1998, Gotti co-produced his first Hot 100 single, which was Jay-Z's "Can I Get A..." featuring Ja Rule and Amil.

After helping Def Jam with the success of Jay-Z and the pending development of DMX, the label had grown over $100 million in value, Gotti contributed to a majority of the album soundtrack for The Fast and the Furious, while his brother Chris co-executive produced the album. He also contributed to the soundtrack for Romeo Must Die and executive produced Irv Gotti Presents: The Murderers. From 1999 to 2003, Gotti, Ja Rule, and Murder Inc. were all involved in a well-publicized feud with G-Unit Records, Aftermath Records, and Shady Records over the history between 50 Cent and Ja Rule.

Gotti met Ashanti through a mutual friend; initially, he had too many projects to also work on her music but invited her to visit the studio while he executive produced on Ja Rule's 2001 album Pain Is Love. After months of being around the studio together, Ashanti was placed on the 2001 single "How We Roll" by Big Pun. Annually, the label grossed over $100 million during this period, Gotti's rate for a song at that time was as high as $250,000, ten years after he could command no more than $10,000 to produce a record.

thumb|Gotti in 2004

2006–2024: Comeback and decline, resurgence in television

After the McGriff legal cases were settled in December 2005, Universal Records offered $10 million in an advance and provisions for Gotti to buy his master recordings. Gotti had considered leaving Universal to start a new label with hedge fund manager Larry Goldfarb for $30 million. Uncertain about the potential return on investment, Goldfarb bailed out of the agreement. Gotti also considered joining Warner Music with Lyor Cohen, but after a low offer from Warner and a counteroffer from Universal record executive Doug Morris, Gotti stayed with Universal. Gotti also dealt with contract disputes related to Lloyd in the same year. Production for Gotti's first television show Gotti's Way began in 2006.

Under The Inc. banner, Gotti moved the label to Universal Motown and signed Vanessa Carlton, executive producing with Stephan Jenkins her third album, Heroes & Thieves, which was released in October 2007. After The Inc.'s distribution deal ended in 2009, the label started to struggle as more artists and in-house producers left. Gotti had offered to sign rapper Nicki Minaj but she countered with an offer for him to become her manager which he declined; he later helped inspire her to write the 2010 single "Moment 4 Life".

In 2011, Gotti unsuccessfully campaigned to become the president of Def Jam, abandoning projects for Shyne and The Diplomats.

Gotti began production on the BET show Tales in 2016. The show premiered in June 2017. In May 2017, Gotti and 300 Entertainment announced a partnership. In 2018, Gotti co-produced the songs "Violent Crimes" and "Brothers" by Kanye West.

In July 2022, Gotti signed a distribution deal with Kevin Liles' 300 Elektra Entertainment. That same month, Gotti sold his fifty percent ownership stake in the master recordings of Murder Inc. to brand management and music rights company Iconoclast for $100 million. Another $200 million as a line of credit was included to produce film and television projects for his company, Visionary Ideas Entertainment. He was in the process of creating a show called Double Threat and turning the TV show Tales into a movie, Tales Presents: We Made it in America, which included a theme song by Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean. Gotti also secured a development deal with Viacom/CBS, which included BET and Showtime at the time. In August 2022, BET released a five-part documentary which Gotti starred in, titled The Murder Inc Story, detailing the history of the record label, the FBI investigations, and the feuds of the era. In August 2024, Gotti announced he was producing a biopic on DMX.

Legal issues

United States v. Irving Lorenzo, et al. (2003–2005)

On January 3, 2003, federal agents of the DOJ, IRS, and New York Police Department investigators raided the headquarters of Murder Inc., located at One Worldwide Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, after a $65 million check from Universal Music was written. The raid was part of a year-long investigation into the connection between the Lorenzo brothers and American drug lord Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. Investigators believed that the Lorenzos used over $1 million Although computers and documents were seized, no charges were immediately filed, and no arrests were immediately made. The probe was handled by prosecutors Carolyn Pokorny, Richard Weber, and Tracy Dayton. At the time Lorenzo was represented by law firm Kaye Scholer. surrendered to authorities in New York City and were officially charged with money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. The brothers were released on $1 million bonds after putting up their parent's home to receive the funds. A task force was created by the office of Roslynn Mauskopf with Raymond Kelly, Pasquale D'Amuro, Michael J. Thomas, and William G. McMahon. Legal fees were in excess of $10 million.

Jane Doe v. Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (2024)

In July 2024, a lawsuit was filed in Miami-Dade by a Jane Doe plaintiff against Lorenzo, alleging that he sexually assaulted and abused her over a two-year relationship between 2020 and 2022 in Saint Martin, Miami, and Atlanta. The woman alleged they had met at a poker tournament in the summer of 2020. The complaint alleged that, during a January 2022 trip to a hotel in Miami, Lorenzo forced her to perform oral sex in an elevator at a Four Seasons hotel, and again in an Uber during a subsequent trip to Atlanta later that year.

Personal life and death

From 2003 to 2013, Lorenzo was married to his wife Debra (also known as Debbie). The couple had two sons and a daughter together. Lorenzo claimed he had romantically dated Ashanti while separated from his wife, which the singer denied, though she did confirm they were casually dating at one point. The two had a tumultuous relationship with communication breaking down in 2009 when Ashanti left The Inc. and in New Rochelle. In 2024, Lorenzo suffered a minor stroke, as a result of his diabetes, which caused him to walk with a cane.

Discography

Singles produced

1994
"Shit's Real" (Mic Geronimo)
"Hot Spot" (Foxy Brown)
"Holla Holla" (Ja Rule)
"Between Me and You" (Ja Rule featuring Christina Milian)
2001
"What's Luv?" (Fat Joe featuring Ashanti & Ja Rule)
"Always on Time" (Ja Rule featuring Ashanti)
"Mesmerize" (Ja Rule featuring Ashanti)