It takes brass cojones to named yourself after one of the Italian Mafia's most notorious crime bosses. But Irv Gotti is just the sort of man to that-a brash, imposing figure who isn't afraid to speak his mind. Known better as a producer than a solo artist, his work has given other hip-hop figures such as Ja Rule and Ashanti careers awash in money. Murder Inc., his label, is well-respected as a stable of rap.

Gotti was born Irving Lorenzo in 1971 in New York. His involvement in the rap game began under the moniker DJ Irv, working with artist Mic Geronimo on his 1995 debut album. The following year, he helped produce Jay-Z' debut Reasonable Doubt. Everything Gotti's hands touched seemed to blessed to float up the charts. He would kick off DMX's debut, It's Dark and Hell is Hot, in 1998, followed by Ja Rule's debut, Venni Vetti Vicci in 1999. All this despite the fact that he advertised himself as having criminal connections, dubbing his studio the "Crack House," and claiming to have ties to actual criminals, not just people who rapped about them.

Def Jam was impressed, to say the least, and granted Gotti his own imprint, Murder Inc. Gotti set about releasing a number of compilations in the early ‘00s, the first being 2000's Irv Gotti Presents-The Murderers. Unfortunately, it stalled on the charts. That didn't stop him from turning out massive hit singles for Ja Rule and Ashanti. In the first couple years of the new millennium, Gotti turned out "Always on Time" for Ja, "What's Luv?" for Fat Joe and "Foolish" for Ashanti. All of charted on the Top 10 at the same time. The 2004 song "Down 4 U" became a smash on multiple charts.

After the F.B.I. raided Gotti's Murder, Inc. office, a series of shootings related to the rapper and his collaborators kept him in the news and his crime lord image alive and kicking.