Irv Gotti’s Rap Rep On The Line In Fed Probe

Geoff Boucher of the Los Angeles Times profiled Murder Inc. chief Irv Gotti, known as a musical talent who knew gangs but didn’t run with them, now has an image at stake in a federal probe. Elliott Wilson, editor in chief of XXL magazine says it was Ashanti’s ascendance that cemented Gotti’s reputation. “Ashanti is the one that personifies what his vision is for Murder Inc.,” Wilson said. “There have been movements in hip-hop, labels that defined a time and sound. There was Death Row and there was Bad Boy, and Gotti has taken elements from both for his blueprint. He took the imagery and aesthetic of Death Row, and the use of melody and R&B flavor from Bad Boy. Ashanti is the perfect mix.”