The famed longtime industry exec shaped the careers of Ja Rule and Ashanti and was pivotal in Def Jam's late Nineties revival

Irv Gotti has died, PEOPLE has confirmed. The famed producer and Murder Inc. Records cofounder was 54 years old.

News of Irv Gotti and the state of his physical well-being has some fans up in arms and now we’ve finally got a clue as to what he may be dealing with. Unfortunately for him, things did not turn out well.