Irv Gotti, a music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records and was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule, has died.
He was 54.
Def Jam Recordings announced Gotti's death in a statement late Wednesday night. Def Jam was the parent company of Murder Inc.
It did not give a cause of death.
Gotti, whose real name is Irving Lorenzo, founded Murder Inc. with his brother in the late 1990s.
The label gained worldwide prominence through platinum-selling artists Ashanti and Ja Rule.
Gotti had also worked with artists DMX, Fat Joe and Jay-Z, among other huge names in the genre.