November 01, 2007 @ 5:46 pm

Get it Gotti: Irv Gotti Spills All on 50 Cent, Ashanti, more

Keith Murphy

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Irv on the 50-Kanyeezy beef: "50 is just lookin worse and worse and worse and worse."

Irv "Gotti" Lorenzo is what we call in the journalism biz a certified "quote monster." The man oversaw one of the most successful record imprints in hip hop history, with Murder Inc - only to witness his musical empire crumble from the weight of the backlash from the antagonizing 2003 emergence of 50 Cent and, more notably. his 2005 trial for federal money laundering charges. Even so, Irv talks without a filter. And while such a verbal affliction may be a nightmare for any publicist, Irv, whose comeback is currently documented in the bare bones VH-1 reality-show Gotti's Way, revels in the controversy. From his thoughts on the roadblocks he faces pushing Murder Inc.'s languishing franchise player Ja Rule back to the top of the charts, his surprising signing of pop piano prodigy Vanessa Carlton, and his rift with publicly disgruntled star Ashanti, Irv Gotti doesn't hold anything back.

VIBE: How did Gotti's Way come about? Were you afraid that people might not be able to buy into it because there's an influx of reality shows?
IRV GOTTI: I mean, I'm never afraid, you understand? If the show's a success or not a success, I'm not afraid of that. I do what I feel, and if I feel it's good entertainment, I run with it.

It came about with Cris Abrego, the president and CEO of 51 Minds Entertainment. They do shows like "Flavor of Love" and "I Love NY" and "Surreal Life" and "Rock of Love." All of the big shows on VH1. He contacted me after I was on the cover of The Source draped in the American flag. He read the article and he thought [my comeback would] be a great story to follow me around.

At first I was like, "Nah, I don't wanna be no reality TV star." But he stayed on me for like two, three months, just telling me, "It's gonna be a good show" and "You can executive produce the show. We're not trying to clown you or anything, we want it to be real."

The first thing I really noticed in the show is the dynamic between you and Deb, your wife. It's a very interesting relationship you got going on here; one foot out, one foot in. You're there for your kids. You're not really doing the whole marriage thing. I mean, this is some personal shit, dude!
Yeah, yeah. The reason this show could come about is because of me and Deb, and how we're so cool with each other. She's like my best friend. So it was nothing - when I said any of this crazy shit – it was nothing that she ain't heard before. (Laughter) If she sees me talking to a girl on the show, it ain't nothing that she don't know, you know what I'm saying? So, it's all good. But we've gotten to that place - me and Deb's relationship is unique, and it is very special to both of us. We are very cool but yet and still, I'm separated from her. Abrego wanted to shoot the show more when he seen that! (Laughs) 'Cuz he didn't even know he was getting that when he first contacted me. He just wanted the business side and the music side. When he seen the family side, he was like, "Yo, Irv, this is a home run. This type of relationship ain't never been seen on television." It's a great thing and it's very entertaining because we talk about real things that concern relationships.

But you've made some very interesting comments in the past about "Hey, I know I break her heart but she knows what I do." Do you ever look back on those comments and say, "Damn, maybe I shouldn't have said that shit"?
Yeah, yeah. I look back on a lot of things that I say sometimes. I did an article with Rolling Stone and they asked me about Ashanti's record "Foolish" and I said, Well, I told Ashanti to write it, and the story in my head was Deb, because she loves me but she's stuck and I cheat, too. She hurts when I'm mad, but she hurts when I leave, you know what I'm saying? So it's like a fucked-up situation for her when she's caught. And that was how that record came about. And it makes for good records, but maybe I shouldn't have said that.

Yeah, maybe you shouldn't have said it like that.
 (Laughs) Yeah, but see the thing with me is, I say a lot of crazy shit and it's all real! Everything that I say is the realest shit. It's just sometimes it's better to be political and sometimes my political vibe ain't right. I just be sayin' whatever the fuck I wanna say. (Laughs)

It's very interesting to see a cat from our hip hop nation with connections to the streets. Grew up on the streets, did his thing, rose outta the hood to be shown in an environment where, you know, you take care of your kids, you got the wife's daughter from another relationship, you're claiming her. There's a family vibe in this, dude. Did you make it a point to show that to people?
I think it just comes across. When I'm doing business, I'm Irv Gotti. But then when I'm with my kids, I'm Irving Lorenzo. It's two different lives that I care very much about and I wanna see both do well. Juggling the two is hard, it's very hard. I can't be with my kids when I'm out in LA promoting the show. I can't be there to take Sonny and JJ and Angie to school and it's like that part suffers and it's like, what are you gonna do?

It's kinda crazy how hard you are on them.
I love my kids very much, man, and I ride Sonny and JJ a little bit because - I'ma tell you why - when I went through my federal shit, it was like, What if I'm gone for 20 years? I told him, "Sonny, you're gonna have to grow up fast, yo." You know what I'm saying? I'm like, "You're a man." And I said, "Your mommy is a woman and Angie is a woman, and men gotta take care of shit." You know what I'm saying? Men can't have excuses. We gotta get it done. A woman will get a pass because a man will take care of a woman. With men, we gotta get it done, so when all of that shit happened with me I started trying to tell them things earlier, because I think the sooner you know what you wanna do in life, the better you will have a chance at doing that. So I ride 'em a little bit harder, because in the back of my mind, I'm like, Yo, what if I was calling in from jail and I couldn't be there? "Maybe when you turn 15 you gotta go get a job, you gotta man up, you gon' have to do something to help."

Right when we decided to shoot the pilot, Angie, who's 15, called me and said, "Are you my real dad?" Because she's my stepdaughter and we have different last names. So I kinda got pissed at Deb,  'cuz I said, "That's why I wanted you to change your fucking name. I'm Irv Gotti, and I don't want her dealing with that shit because I love her to death." But they captured the conversation that a father would have with his daughter that's his stepdaughter, and how I break it down to her like "I don't care." I said something to the nature of, "I don't care if you came from my balls and shit." (Laughs)
After that conversation, everything is all good.

How bittersweet would it be for you to blast off with a Ja Rule hit on the radio, with Vanessa Carlton hitting the pop charts, after all of the shit you went through with the federal indictment case?
(Laughs) But really, it's already the sweetest thing ever, being found not guilty. It's like, yo, I'm on the right path back to where I need to be. If I looked at where I was two years ago, my mind was scrambling, like, Yo, what the fuck is gonna happen? So I'm already winning. It doesn't even matter.

How are you going to bring Ja back to the masses?
Well, what I'm doing with Ja is like a three- or four-step plan. Forget where Ja Rule is in today's market. Just the music business on the whole is fucked up. Now that said, I also know that Ja was out for ten years, and people question his relevance. So I attacked it first with "Uh Oh," a street record to get him warmed up. After the "Uh Oh" record, here comes the body record - more female friendly, radio friendly and a more classic Ja Rule big record. After that, I got the Sunset record, the feature with Game and it's a whole west coast, L.A. love type record that's a huge record. But I ain't stopping there! Then I got the record with Ja and all the new dudes. It's called "300." And it's got Newz on it for the underground and the mix tapes in New York, so I'm covering that base. Then, for the over the top, I got the "Father Forgive Me" record, which is the Beatles cover of "Eleanor Rigby" which is a huge, huge record where we took the Beatles and made it hip hop. That record to me is limitless, and Ja Rule needs a record like that. That's gonna be insane if Ja Rule was to sell 2-3 million albums again in this climate. That would be the win of all wins.

Everybody talks about how hard it is to get a Beatles sample. You guys are kinda playing it over, right?
Yeah, it's like kind of a cover, but we had to get it cleared. Truth be told, the whole Michael Jackson situation and then with SONY, they own the publishing so if you don't sample the record, it's just clearing it. And in these markets, in these days and times, people just want their money. So they took 100% of the record. We don't own the record. But it's all good. It's still a huge record that could help drive Ja's album sales.

What about with Vanessa Carlton being signed to Murder Inc.? People don't see the connection.
 (Laughs) It's all good. They'll see it over the course of time. They'll see that we're both music people and that basically the approach that we're taking with Vanessa's album is... This is the first album that I don't have any pressures on the first week of her release. The whole thing with albums like that – when you look at Corinne Bailey Rae, Amy Winehouse, Nickelback – all of these albums are albums that you could work for like 18 months or 24 months and that's what I wanted to do and create with Vanessa. It's funny to me. It's the first time where maybe in the 20th week of her release, we'll catch fire. (Laughs) Like, you don't get that in hip hop! You don't get that in R&B! (Laughs) But this is something I can get. She's a singer-songwriter like you wouldn't believe.

I know you was watching the whole 50 Cent-Kanye battle. What were your views on the whole thing?
Actually, I thought it was a huge mistake on 50's part, for two reasons. One reason - the biggest reason - was he didn't have the right record, and he should've known he didn't have the right records in June, when he put out the "Amusement Park" and the "Bank" record, "Money in the Bank" ha ha ha whatever - and the people rejected those deposits. He should've known better to come and fuck around and play with a dude who's making big records. The underdog factor too - 50 lowered himself because he was a bigger artist than Kanye, he was selling more records than Kanye. With Kanye, you look at two of his albums and in the States he sold, like, 2.5 with both of his records. With 50, his first album did, what, 7-8 million? His second album, he did 5-6 million? He's a bigger selling artist, so why pay off with this act? You put yourself in the Goliath role and him in the David role, you understand? And he should've known, out of anybody! Because the underdog won't help him or fuck with us. If he was the one selling all the records and on top of the world, here comes the guy with the slingshot saying "fuck him." He should've known better, being someone who played the role of David, who slayed Goliath. He should've known, like, don't go fucking with this dude, especially when he's dropping "When will I get my money, right" and he's dropping records! And he has the white record, "Stronger," that's crushing radio. He should have known, whoa, don't fuck with that dude, yo. And now you put yourself in the position where they're making a choice.

And now with Kanye, he's made another mistake, 'cuz Kanye got that "Good Life" record which is smashin'. He's burying him right now. 50 is just lookin worse and worse and worse and worse. Anyone who was praying for his downfall, he just lit their torch and now they're running around with it. So there was a few mistakes that I'm shocked that he made. I'm pretty sure that Jimmy Iovine was like, "Yo, don't go fucking with Kanye, yo, leave it alone." But, you know, his ego probably comes into play, which is a huge ego. It all makes sense what happened. I just think he shouldn't have messed with Kanye. He should've left it alone.

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