Irv Gotti, the Murder Inc. Records founder and music producer who worked with DMX, Aaliyah, Kanye West and Jay-Z, has died. He was 54.
The Grammy winner reportedly died on Wednesday in New York City, his family told multiple media outlets. Although he has faced health issues in the past, a cause of death was not revealed.
TMZ’s report of Gotti’s death came after The Breakfast Club announced on Tuesday that the music producer was on life support following multiple strokes.
Born June 26, 1970 in Queens, New York City, Gotti rose to success as DJ Irv, producing Jay-Z’s ‘Can I Live’ from his 1996 debut album Reasonable Doubt. He also recruited DMX to Def Jam and oversaw his 1998 debut studio album It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot.
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Def Jam subsequently gave Gotti his own label, which he called Murder Inc., working with the likes of Ja Rule, Ashanti, Jennifer Lopez, Fat Joe and Eve.
In 2013, Gotti relaunched Murder Inc. as an imprint under his new label Visionary.