Irv Gotti was once one of the most successful and influential executives in hip hop.
But these days, his reputation is a shadow of its former self.
But how did he go from running the most exciting label in rap to little more than a running joke?
Here’s the story of the downfall of Irv and his music empire.
Irv Gotti’s Biggest Stars: Ashanti and Ja Rule
Two of the jewels in Irv’s company’s crown were the huge hit making duo of Ashanti and Ja Rule.
More than twenty years ago, Ashanti established herself as the princess of R&B with her huge hit single Foolish.
It was the first single from her debut self-titled album, and it spent 10 weeks at the top of the charts.
With Foolish, as well as with the hits Always on Time and What’s Luv, Ashanti became a record-breaker.
She was the first female artist to have three records in the top 10 at the same time.
Ja Rule’s Successful Rap Career
One of those records, Always on Time, saw Ashanti team up with Ja Rule, who’d already been a successful artist for a few years.
He began his career in 1994 as part of the rap group Cash Money Click.
The group signed with TVT Records after releasing several tracks with Irv as their producer.
A short time later, they were released from the label, but Ja Rule remained close with Irv, who helped get him signed to Def Jam.
Irv went on to get his own Def Jam imprint.
And the first album they released was Ja Rule’s debut Venni Vetti Vecci in 1999.
The success of the album and its lead single, Holla Holla, put Ja Rule and Irv at the top of the industry.
And things only got better with the release of Ja Rule’s second album the following year.
The album, titled Rule 3:36, was an amazing commercial success.
It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard 200.
And it eventually became certified triple platinum.
Ja Rule And Ashanti Made Hits Together
But the best was yet to come for the label when in 2001, Irv signed Ashanti.
And now that Ashanti and Ja Rule were making music for the same company, it looked like they were ready to take over.
The label went on to reach its peak between 2001 and 2003.
As well as Ashanti’s insanely successful first album, Ja Rule released Pain is Love, which was just as popular.
The two artists also started making a lot of songs together.
To date, they’ve made at least 10 tracks together, including classics like Mesmerize and Wonderful.
Their chemistry paid off in a big way and helped both artists reach new heights.
What Caused Irv Gotti’s Downfall?
However, it wouldn’t last.
And the reasons behind their downfall were kind of shocking.
On January 3, 2003, Irv’s office was raided by federal agents.
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The Source looked back on the incident in 2018 as being a huge moment in the label’s history.
Irv and his brother, Chris Gotti, became the subjects of a two-year-long legal case.
They were accused of running the label as a money laundering scheme for the infamous gangster Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff.
The case racked up some pretty insane costs, with Irv spending as much as $10 million in legal fees.
During the trial, the label did not distribute any music, and the business suffered.
Ja Rule and 50 Cent’s Beef
However, other drama was starting to bubble up that had a negative effect on the label and its artists as well.
In the same year, Ja Rule started his infamous beef with 50 Cent.
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This was widely seen as one of Ja Rule’s first major Ls in hip hop.
It all started when he was allegedly robbed of his chain by one of 50 Cent’s friends in a club.
50 Cent went on to release a diss track aimed at Ja Rule, and things even became physical a year later.
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The pair got into a brawl one night when they were booked to perform at the same venue.
And a little while later, Irv’s label got into an altercation with 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew that resulted in someone getting hurt.
Ja Rule and Eminem’s Beef
After this, the beef was no longer just between Ja Rule and 50 Cent, but with anyone associated with the rappers.
This led to Ja Rule taking shots at 50 Cent’s friends and even his mentor, Eminem.
What followed was a series of brutal diss tracks that made just about everybody feel Ja Rule had lost the battle.
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The only person who seemed to think differently was Ja Rule himself, which turned him from a rap star into a little bit of a joke.
All of this was damaging to the image of the record label and its owner.
And eventually, they even changed their name to The Inc to avoid more trouble with the government, which was also seen by parts of the hip hop community as a pretty weak move.
Irv Gotti’s Record Label’s Decline
In 2004, both Ja Rule and Ashanti released new albums that did not see the success of their previous output.
The next few years saw the label slip into decline.
And in 2009, Ashanti was released from her contract to make music independently.
Ja Rule stayed on the label’s books for his good friend Irv.
Irv Gotti Speaks Out On Ashanti
The producer spoke about Ashanti’s exit years later in a now-notorious interview.
He appeared on the Drink Champs podcast alongside Ja Rule last year.
And he said some WILD things about Ashanti.
At one point, he opened up about how he felt when he was told she was leaving his label.
According to Irv, Ashanti told him that she didn’t want to do it anymore.
Which Irv said cut him deep, as he believed he was the one that first gave Ashanti a chance.
It might have been that the federal charges the label was facing at the time scared Ashanti into leaving.
But what Irv really couldn’t understand was Ashanti’s decision to re-record her debut album.
In a 2021 interview with Angie Martinez, the singer explained that she did this so that she could own her masters.
Irv, on the other hand, felt that she did it to cheat him out of money.
And he even suggested that by doing this, Ashanti was basically saying that she didn’t want Irv’s kids to eat.
Ashanti Claps Back At Irv
In the interview, Ashanti clapped back at Irv with some sensational claims of her own.
She talked about the process of making her fifth album The Declaration, which she said Irv had no part in creating.
But despite not contributing to the project, Irv allegedly took a large percentage of the album’s profits.
According to Ashanti, this was the moment everything changed for her and the label.
She realized that for Irv, feelings became more important than good business, which seemed to influence his decision-making and eventually lead to the label’s downfall.
After learning this lesson, Ashanti had no problem becoming independent from Irv, as she saw “no purpose” in doing business with him.
But when she tried to leave Irv behind, Ashanti claimed that Irv made some crazy demands.
She said that she was in talks with Dr. Dre about a deal, only for Irv to tell her that he wanted a staggering 90% of everything she earned.
Ashanti Acknowledged The Good Irv Did For Her Career
Despite the ridiculousness of some of his business practices, Ashanti was still able to acknowledge the good things Irv did for her career.
She accepted that he had helped push her to make herself great, even if he didn’t “make” her the way he would later claim.
And now, Irv has very little to show for his early success, in part due to his misguided treatment of his biggest star.
But more than that, some of the wild things his label was doing away from the music were a major factor in bringing Irv’s legacy crashing down.
