Irv Gotti, the music executive, songwriter and producer behind the reign of hip-hop and R&B stars Ja Rule and Ashanti in the early 2000s, has died. Gotti, the music mogul who co-founded Murder Inc. Records, was 54.

Irving Lorenzo Jr.—known to the music world by his professional name, Irv Gotti—has died. Through his work, first for Def Jam Records, and then as the co-founder (with his brother Chris) of Murder Inc.

The influential music producer and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records, Irv Gotti, is dead. Best known for shaping the hip-hop and R&B landscape of the early 2000s, Gotti worked with legendary artists like Ja Rule and Ashanti,