(February 6, 2025). As the new century began, hip-hop was still mourning Tupac and Biggie, its two biggest stars. While DMX, Nas, Jay-Z, and Master P kept the genre alive, fans wondered aloud if any label could match the dominance that Death Row or Bad Boy had enjoyed prior to losing their marquee MCs.
Along came Irv Gotti, the man born in New York City as Irving Domingo Lorenzo, Jr. whose pro career began as a DJ/producer with a song credit (“Can I Live”) on Jay-Z’s first album, 1996’s Reasonable Doubt. In 1998, he would team with Jay-Z again on “Can I Get A…,” the smash hit that moved Hova from hip-hop’s back corners into the mainstream and introduced us to featured artist Ja Rule, the energetic young rapper with whom Gotti would earn a fortune just a few years later.
That fortune came with Murder Inc., the label Gotti launched with his brother Chris in ’98. By 2002, Murder Inc. had a chart run rivaling Bad Boy’s ’97 peak and even RSO’s Saturday Night Fever dominance of 1978. Gotti’s artists held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for 18 straight weeks (and 23 out of 42), with multiple hits ruling the top five.
Under the distribution wing of the legendary Def Jam label, Murder Inc. released Ja Rule’s debut LP Venni Vetti Vecci, featuring the hit, “Holla Holla,” which peaked at Nos. 11 and 35 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot 100 charts, respectively, in 1999. It was a moderate showing but one that propelled the album to platinum status based mainly on the buzz Ja had created from his ongoing association with superstar rappers like Jay-Z and DMX.
But Venni Vetti Vecci, a title based on the Italian phrase for “I came, I saw, I conquered,” was only a taste of what was to come for both Gotti and his premier rapper. Ja’s next album, 2000’s Rule 3:36, produced the singles “Between Me and You,” featuring Christina Milian, and “Put It On Me,” featuring Vita (and, in a popular remix, singer Lil’ Mo). Those two songs put Ja in the top ten on the Hip-Hop/R&B charts for the first time as a lead artist, with the latter placing him in the top ten for the first time on the Hot 100 (No. 8 peak). Along with the lesser hit, “I Cry,” featuring Lil’ Mo, the songs propelled Rule 3:36 to triple-platinum status in 2001.
The success of those three songs made it apparent to Gotti that the harder-edged, gruff-sounding Ja Rule did very well commercially when paired with sweet-sounding females. Gotti soon laid the groundwork to expand Ja beyond his core audience by pairing him with rising superstar Jennifer Lopez (on Epic records) and, concurrently, Murder Inc. newcomer Ashanti, who had just been signed to the label in 2001. These partnerships manifested in Ja’s third album, Pain is Love, which featured the reworked Lopez single, “I’m Real (Murder Remix)” and the Ashanti-assisted “Always on Time.” Lopez’s single enjoyed moderate success in its original pop-oriented version, but it was the “Murder Remix” that took it over the top, with that version reaching No. 1 on the Hot 100 for five nonconsecutive weeks in the summer and fall of 2001 (including during 9/11).
Ja Rule — and by extension, Gotti and Murder Inc. — was on fire. As “I’m Real (Murder Remix)” dominated, Ja’s “Livin’ It Up” (feat. Case) hit No. 6, while “Always on Time” (feat. Ashanti) sped toward a No. 1 peak in early 2002. Meanwhile, Gotti worked his magic again, flipping Jennifer Lopez’s “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix)” into another smash. Released in December 2001, it soon replaced “Always on Time” at No. 1. That gave Murder Inc. – specifically Ja Rule and Irv Gotti – three No. 1 Hot 100 singles in the span of four months. It also elevated new singer/songwriter Ashanti up the Murder Inc. ranks, as she had not only contributed backing vocals to both “I’m Real” (uncredited) and “Always on Time,” but she also co-wrote “Ain’t It Funny (Murder Remix)” by contributing the song’s verses.
But it was what came next that made Gotti and Murder Inc. look like Robert Stigwood and RSO Records reincarnated on the Hot 100.
While Lopez’ “Ain’t It Funny,” featuring Ja Rule and Ja’s own “Always on Time” featuring Ashanti were duking it out at the top of the Hot 100 in March 2002, Ashanti had two other singles – her own ballad “Foolish” (which sampled the old Notorious B.I.G. hit “One More Chance”) and the Fat Joe song, “What’s Luv?” on which she was featured – climbing the list fast. By the end of March, Murder Inc. had four of its products – by way of either Gotti’s songwriting and production or via the label imprint itself – in the top ten at the same time.
By mid-April, the top three consisted entirely of Gotti’s hits: “Ain’t It Funny,” “What’s Luv?” and “Foolish” at Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. This trio of songs would maintain their hold on the top three for weeks with “Foolish” and “Ain’t It Funny” switching places and “What’s Luv?” relegated to a No. 2 high (for nearly two months). It was the ensuing ten-week No. 1 run of Ashanti’s “Foolish” that capped the consecutive eighteen-week run of Irv Gotti’s productions atop the Hot 100, something that no single entity had accomplished previously.
It was reminiscent of 1997 when, for 25 out of 28 weeks, five songs either written, produced or performed by Sean “Puffy” Combs – now Diddy – topped the Hot 100. Or in the late 1970s when, for 21 straight weeks beginning in December 1977, and for 31 out of 37 weeks from December to September 1978, nine songs on the RSO Records label occupied the chart’s No. 1 spot. Or when the Beatles and their producer George Martin blitzed the charts in 1964 with multiple accomplishments (albeit on different labels) that went untouched before the current streaming era.
None of those dominations included an 18-week consecutive run of multiple songs co-written and produced by the same guy, as Gotti’s had.
Sadly, the phenomenal run of Murder Inc. was short lived. Ashanti and Ja Rule would have a few more hits, but none with the type of presence they’d experienced in early 2002. Gotti, meanwhile, would soon find himself – along with brother Chris – embroiled in a legal trial for alleged illicit drug ties (they were both acquitted of the related charges). Murder, Inc. would eventually be dissolved before being reinstated under different names, but to minimal success.
In recent years, Gotti reportedly struggled with his health, including battling diabetes and suffering multiple strokes. He died in his hometown of New York on February 5, 2025, at the age of 54.
Gone too soon, Gotti’s impact on music and the charts remains unforgettable, especially that phenomenal run in 2002.
RIP Irv Gotti (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025).
DJRob
DJRob (he/him) is a freelance music blogger from the East Coast who covers R&B, hip-hop, disco, pop, rock and country genres – plus lots of music news and current stuff! You can follow him on Bluesky at @djrobblog.bsky.social, X (formerly Twitter) at @djrobblog, on Facebook or on Meta’s Threads.
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