Money was raining from the sky - literally. In billing, I did like $120 million two years straight. Anything I wanted, I was getting. I didn’t hear ‘no’ much back then.
IRV GOTTI TOOK HIS BEATING LIKE A MAN. It was June 2000, and he’d just finished playing what would become Ja Rule’s sophomore album, Rule 3:36, for his Def Jam bosses, Lyor Cohen (the label chairman at the time) and Kevin Liles. Cohen and Liles were experienced king- makers, helping launch artists like Run DMC, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and Jay-Z.
But they weren’t feeling 3:36, a turn to lighter fare after Ja’s hard-edged debut. The insults started flying Gotti’s way. “It’s soft. It’s wack,” said Liles, who did most of the talking. “This isn’t even hip hop.” And, worst of all (to the suits), “You wasted our money.”
Gotti was shocked—the young A&R star wasn’t used to having his ears questioned, even back when he was choosing beats for his fi rst artist, Mic Geronimo.
By the turn of the century, he had been instrumental in bringing Jay-Z and DMX to Def Jam (both in ’97), and he’d delivered Ja’s platinum 1999 debut, Venni Vetti Vecci. Not to mention, according to Irv, “All the bitches in L.A. was loving [3:36].” At the end of the meeting in Lyor’s swank office, Liles ordered Gotti to make an entirely different record.
What did he change? Not a thing. Def Jam eventually provided Irv with 10,000 pieces of vinyl for the lead single, “Between Me & You”— a very modest roll-out—and Gotti started calling his radio connections. “I whored Ja out basically,” Gotti says now. “I was like, ‘Please, if you like it, just play it.’ And, boy, did they play it.”
Rule 3:36, a reference to a Bible passage from the Book of John, eventually sold more than three million copies and initiated one of the most successful runs in hip hop history. All told, between 1999 and 2005, Murder Inc. released eight platinum albums through Def Jam and conquered the Billboard charts. In 2002 alone, Gotti produced nine Hot 100 Top 20 hits. He did it by keenly merging R&B with street rap. It seems obvious now, but Gotti godfathered an entire subgenre: gangsta pop.
Irv and his crew also pissed off a lot of people, from rival rappers to executives. But most notably, he caught the attention of the federal government, which put him on trial for money laundering. Now, through a series of interviews (see THE PLAYERS below), VIBE chronicles the highs and lows of the controversial label that made its own distinct sound, made friends, made enemies, but most importantly, made history.
IN THE MID-1990S, IRVING DOMINGO LORENZO was a young cat from Hollis, Queens, known as Magoo for his signature Mr. Magoo squint. But in the music world, he was a producer known as DJ Irv who’d just cut ties with Queens MC Mic Geronimo. Irv says, “He wasn’t fucking with me the way I needed him to.” Mic says, “I didn’t sign to his production company [Top Dog Productions], and I think he was counting on that.”
Irv eventually linked up with fellow Hollis native Ja Rule, a rapper he’d followed since Ja was part of the failed TVT Records group Cash Money Click. Gotti always envisioned running a rap empire, and, thanks to his success with Jay-Z (see sidebar), he scored a serious sit- down with Def Jam President Lyor Cohen for an A&R position. He aced it, and soon thereafter, Gotti’s ascension from brash, cocky A&R to brash, cocky CEO was underway.
Russell Simmons: This guy comes into my office saying, “The only way niggas is going to dance again is like this.” And he started bouncing. Because that was the [musical] vibe DMX and Ja Rule had.
Mike Kyser: Irv came in with a chip on his shoulder. He was ready to change the whole system in a week. Irv was like, “We need some new blood.” He brought this guy named DMX to the building.
Julie Greenwald: Gotti plays me [DMX’s] “Get at Me Dog” and is like, “It’s going to sell five million.” I’m like, “Irv, you’re out of your mind.” [DMX’s 1998 debut, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot, went on to sell just short of four million copies.]
Chris Gotti: They were like, “Irv, [DMX] barks. He’s a fucking dog. Who’s going to want to buy that?” They used to laugh at Irv.
Irv Gotti: In 1998, [then Sony vice president] Dave McPherson, was like, “I want to give you a label.” That’s when Lyor was forced to give me a label deal, which he didn’t even give me. [Universal CEO] Doug Morris gave it to me. [Despite numerous requests, Cohen declined to be interviewed for this story.]
Simmons: Irv graduated to a label...quickly. It didn’t take long. How long did it take for the white guy who signed Britney Spears to get a label?
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1.
abby says:
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ja and irv and the inc are some of the best to do
this music sh#t i look foward to hearing what they have in store
June 18, 2008 at 10:56 pm