Irv Gotti
Hip-Hop producer Irv Gotti has produced many hits for such artists as Ja Rule, Ashanti, and DMX. In the process he built his record label Murder Inc., now known simply as The Inc. into an empire. He has since taken The Inc. imprint to Universal Motown where he’s already produced two chart-topping hits from newcomer Lloyd and is getting ready to expand his empire with the recent signing of Vanessa Carlton and the Thunderkatz.
Hip-Hop producer Irv Gotti has produced many hits for such artists asJa Rule, Ashanti, DMX and most recently Lloyd,and in the process he built his record label Murder Inc., now known simply as The Inc. into an empire. Born in Hollis, Queens, in 1971, Gotti’s career in the Hip-Hop game as a producer began in the mid-’90s. His big break came when he contributed production to “Reasonable Doubt,” Jay-Z‘s debut album in 1996. Following Gotti’s success executive producing DMX and Ja Rule, Def Jam gave the producer his own label, Murder Inc., which Def Jam would market and distribute. Gotti would then hit gold and platinum with a series of hits by Ja Rule and Ashanti in the early 2000s, among them Ja’s “Always on Time,” Fat Joe’s “What’s Luv?,” and Ashanti’s own “Foolish,” all three hit the Top 10 at the same time! Gotti wasn’t without some tough times as he would make headlines in a highly publicized trial linking him to a legendary drug dealer from his hometown. He was acquitted of any wrong doing and it wasn’t long before he returned to his passion…music. He has since taken The Inc. imprint to Universal Motown where he’s already produced two chart-topping hits from newcomer Lloyd and is getting ready to expand his empire with the recent signing of Vanessa Carlton and the Thunderkatz.
eQB presents excerpts from the FMQB July Magazine Cover Story featuring The Inc. President/CEO Irv Gotti
On knowing when music was going to be a career… I knew it at an early age. A neighborhood friend’s father had two turntables and I was obsessed with them. I used to literally cut and scratch one record for two or three hours everyday. That’s when I knew I was obsessed with music. Run-DMC and Russell Simmons were also from my neighborhood, and it was right around the time that the whole Run-DMC thing blew up.
On the idea of running a record company… You never think that at first because you’re so into the music and you just want to be heard and you want to produce. I wanted to be a producer. I went from being a deejay and the progression for me was to make beats. But then I started seeing guys like Russell Simmons, Eazy-E and Luke Skywalker, guys who grew up like me, own their record labels. Eazy-E was a really big influence on me as far as owning a record label, because of what he was doing with Ruthless [Records].
Something about Irv Gotti that we may be surprised to find out… I’m the youngest of eight kids and my mother and father are still together. I come from the best family in the world, and in the Hip-Hop world usually you hear a lot of stories about guys who grew up without their dads and had difficult family things. For me it was the total opposite. We grew up poor and didn’t have any money, but it was the best family in the world. Still is to this day. There’s a lot of love. That’s how I view my company. Everything that you see with me is all derived from that strong family presence.
On the defining moment that put then Murder Inc. on the map… There were actually a couple. “Holla Holla” with Ja Rule put us on the map because it was my first record that I released on Murder Inc., and that record took off and it was huge! It announced and sent the label on its way. Then it was the whole Ja album, Pain Is Love, Ashanti’s first album, and those Jennifer Lopezrecords. When J-Lo started throwing up the “M” at the end of her video, “I’m Real,” and that record went #1 for like thirteen weeks, it made Murder Inc. a household name. Then, when we did it again with “Ain’t It Funny” which went #1 for eleven weeks, and all of us were in the videos, that put us somewhere else and elevated Murder Inc. to an even higher level.
On where the idea originated to combine female R&B hooks and melodies with rap… I got it from Method Man and Mary [J. Blige] and from 2 Pac. I saw what Pac did with the “Keep Your Head Up” record and what Method and Mary did with “You’re All I Need,” that was a ground-breaking record. It was the first of its kind where a hardcore street act had an ode to a woman. I’m very much into radio and as a radio person I’m all about what’s successful on radio. I felt that these records were successful because it was Hip-Hop, but it drew the female audience in because we were talking to them in a way that they wanted to be talked too. Females are the ones who will pick up the phone and request and do all of the ground work to make a record go #1. I knew to make an album successful you needed to have some records like this with both Ashanti and Ja. I knew they would become big records. I felt it in my gut, and it turned out that they were, and with Ja, he became that guy known for those kinds of records.
On the biggest misconception about Hip-Hop nowadays… The whole [Don] Imus thing and him blaming us for everything that’s wrong with people’s children growing up. We’re not supposed to say “bitches” and “hos,” but yet there’s porn out there, and movies that do the same thing, but yet still we’re to blame for it. Imus is crazy! And for the record, I don’t think he should have been fired. They should have given him a stiff warning, but this guy has been saying stupid sh*t like this his whole lifetime. Don’t smack him now. If I was his boss, I wouldn’t have been too shocked. That’s why they hired the guy. I felt he was the scapegoat. Then he threw Hip-Hop under the bus, which was f**kin’ out of this world crazy!
On what Irv looks for in talent… You hear that term “it?” They have to have “it.” And I guess I’m just a good finder of “it.” I don’t know what “it” is. I can tell you the first time that I met Ja, the minute that guy opened his mouth and he started rhyming’ I knew there was something different and special about him and we’ve been together ever since… With Ashanti it took a little bit more. I was introduced to her by a mutual friend and I was in the process of doing Ja’s album, so I just told her to come to the studio. I wasn’t focused on R&B at the time. But the minute she put that pen to paper and started writing these songs, it was history. If you have “it” and you come near me, I’m going to detect it and help cultivate it and make “it” a star.
On diversifying The Inc. empire with the signing of Vanessa Carlton… I was at Universalhaving a meeting with Mel Lewinter, the Chairman of Universal Motown Records. It was right around the time I was about to sign my deal…I walk into another meeting that took place in [Chairman & CEO, Universal Music Group] Doug Morris’ office. He has a piano in there; I see Vanessa and Stephen Jenkins, who was her boyfriend at the time. At this point I know this person they’re talking about, but I didn’t know her name. So they’re in there talking, and I’m unclear if she’s looking for a deal or what she’s doing in there. Next thing you know she gets on the piano. She starts playing this song, a piano vocal called, “Hands On Me.” When she finishes that song I completely took over the whole, entire meeting! I just got up after she finishes singing and I’m like: “Yo! You’re the f**kin’ shit! Your voice is f**kin’ incredible!” I’m literally running around the office like I can’t believe what I just heard” I’m like, “Your voice is f**kin’ unique and you play the piano!” I’m cursin’, I’m doing everything and she’s looking at me like I’m crazy.
After I calm down and end my five-minute rant, she tells us she’s going to play a song that really made her famous and even sold her some records with her first album. So I hear her begin to play that beginning piano part of “A Thousand Miles” (a song that is predominately featured in theWayans Brothers’ film White Chicks), and I’m like, “You’re the f**kin’ White Chick, oh shit!” I’m like, “Do you know how big you are in the hood?! Everyone loves you!”
On his next meeting with Vanessa…Vanessa calls and we set up a dinner meeting. I say, Vanessa, now here’s a guy, I just finished beating the Feds and everything, so I said to her, “Googleme! (lol)” I was like, “Please, get all the dirt before you say you’re going to sign. Vanessa didn’t care! She said: “Irv, that reaction that you gave was the reaction I’ve been waiting for my whole life. I’ve been in this music business and never was in a meeting like that, with that much energy and someone who loved what I was doing that much. I did my research on you. I don’t care what anyone thinks. I believe in you and I want you to help guide my career.” I was totally blown away and I signed her immediately and we made what I feel is a classic album that’s full of one-listen hits top to bottom.
On new group the Thunderkatz… Thunderkatz was on my radar for a year, but I’m not diving in. I’m in the studio with one of my engineers, he says “Yo, you’ve got to check out the Thunderkatz and the song they f**kin’ have. You’re not going to believe it.” I’m like: “Yo, send it to me, I gotta hear this shit.” I hear “Cupid Baby” and say: “Yo! I called them; I’m signing you! That f**kin’ record is enormous. I’m signing you. That’s a huge record.”… At first, when I’m listening to the music, you will get Black Eyed Peas comparisons. I’m not totally afraid of that because there aren’t too many groups like the Black Eyed Peas. When you see them perform live, they are a real band and they’re performing guitar solos and all kinds of drum solos. When you sit there and look at all of them collectively, you’re like: “Yo, I’ve never seen no shit like this. But it’s just universal and it’s bangin’”! Once you go see them live you’re going to do what I did, you’re going to say: “You know what, this isn’t the Black Eyed Peas. This is the Thunderkatz; this is some other shit.”
On his legal troubles in 2004 and what he’s learned most about himself and those around him…That was an extremely frightening time, because I was standing up for something I believed in which was not turning my back on my friends I grew up with. With that said, they were trying to give me 20 years! For me it was a very nervous time and I had to man up, and face it. It showed me I could do that. I don’t want to do it again! But it showed me that I got the heart to face pretty much everything. What I learned about people, it really opened my eyes to who’s really with me and who’snot really with me. A lot of people who I thought were with me, they weren’t really with me, and they headed for the hills. But it was definitely a learning experience.
On the most rewarding moment of his career… After the case and I was acquitted, signing that deal back with Universal was a pretty high point. I felt like it was against all odds that I was getting back everything in the deal that I lost. I did $125 million in billing at my height for two years with Ja Rule and Ashanti. That’s a pretty high point. I’ve won awards and everything like that but, I’m not going to lie, when I signed that deal it was pretty crazy, pretty emotional, and pretty fantastic. It felt like hell to get to this point and here it is…I got there. So even before the success of Lloyd’s #1 record, me signing that label deal was pretty big.
On what he wants people to think of when hearing the name Irv Gotti… On a music business level, I want the respect for being a music man and for my love of music — someone who knew this music thing. On a person level, just someone who is a great guy and a family guy, and if you were in the circle, he loved the shit out of you. I love people. On a music level, I want to be mentioned with the great music people of our time from Berry Gordy to Ahmet Ertegun, Clive Davis, Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine. When my career is done, I want to be put up there like he was a real record guy.
** QB Content by Bob Burke **
