A beloved figure in the music industry has departed at the age of 54.  The news of Irv Gotti's death was confirmed by a high profile industry trade publication.  Gotti's career began in his early years in Queens.   This is the neighborhood where he was raised.  As a result,  he spent a lot of his early years there and this is where his career took off.   In the early 2000s, Gotti created a rap empire with Murder Inc. ,  that featured popular artists such as Ja Rule and Ashanti.  On his way to success with Murder Inc. , he also helped boost record sales for the hip-hop and R&B genres.

        At the young age of 22, Lorenzo worked as an artist and replay executive.

        Irv Gotti also collaborated with stars such as Jennifer Lopez.  In addition,  his work with Def Jam helped emerge  two of the biggest names in the industry,  Jay-Z and DMX.  Is this the same DMX who we saw in the movie "The Last Dance? "  This collaboration helped Def Jam Records boost massive value to this record label  in the late 1990s.  Between 1997-1998, his relationship with  these two rappers  reported helped boost the record label's value by quite a bit.   We are talking about over 100$ million dollars when the music industry was going through a dip.  In 1998, DMX climbed to the top spot as one of the brightest stars in the rap scene,  with his first major album, selling 4 million records.  Before on record labels, Gotti collaborated with Murder Inc. ,  Philanthropist Irv Gotti certainly left a mark on the music industry.   But, this is not all.  This Queens native had a lot up his sleeve.  He also ventured into TV history, where he starred in a reality show and many other shows.

        It is particularly noticable that his musical output slowed down  when he got into legal trouble.  In 2003, he won a Grammy for an album that was executive produced by him.  This was quite an accomplishment, considering he was a cocky guy with a hard nosed reputation.

         In 2005, the Gotti brothers faced legal trouble.   Fraternal got serious charges and faced a trial.  But, they were later acquitted.  This was an embarrassing situation for the Lorenzo brothers.  After the acquittal, brothers Irv and Chris Lorenzo shifted from music to television.

        After this, Gotti appeared on a reality television program,  hosted by VH1.  He was also in other shows, such as a BET TV show called Tales.   Shows like this helped him become more famous.  Although this would be his younger niche, it was not his full time job. He also wanted to impact the viewers.

        When Gotti's biographical series was released in 2022, it sparked controversy.  The show fathered plenty of controversy, as it revealed his relationship with Ashanti while he was married,  which marred his reputation, especially with younger rap fans unaware of his musical contributions.  Every episode was based on a rap song.

        But in case you didn't know,  Ashanti and Irv had a complex relationship.

        It was messy and quite chaotic.

        The kind of messiness fit well in a reality show,  but the real life Irv Gotti was a little different.

        Gotti's story is not all sunshine and rainbows. He left behind a legacy that includes things to be proud of,  and things to be ashamed of.

        But to be honest, Irv Gotti's legacy in hip-hop and R&B can't be ignored.

The Godfather of Murder Inc: Irv Gotti's Hip-Hop History

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