Gotti reportedly suffered from heart-related issues and strokes over the years before he died in February 2025.

Famed music producer Irv Gotti, founder of Murder Inc. Records and the man who who put the likes of Ja Rule and Ashanti on the map, has died at the age of 54. The news was confirmed on Wednesday, Feb. 5, when Def Jam Recordings, the original parent label for Murder Inc. at the time of the latter's launch in 1998, released a statement on Instagram.

Music producer and mogul Irv Gotti, who helped propel Ashanti and Ja Rule to prominence and collaborated with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Kanye West, has died. He was 54. A cause of death has not yet been confirmed for the Queens-born co-founder of Def Jam imprint Murder Inc.