Ja Rule Says Irv Gotti Gave Him A Chance To Be Part Of A Joint Venture In Murder Inc. But Confirms He Was Never Signed To The Label – AfroTech
Ja Rule is frequently associated with Murder Inc. Records, but he was never actually signed to the label.
Murder Inc., also called The Inc. Recordings per Billboard, is a Hip-Hop label that was founded in 1998 by the late Irv Gotti under the Def Jam Recordings imprint where he had previously worked. Some sources list his brother Chris Gotti as a co-founder. Chris does acknowledge he played a role in the label finding its footing, noting he helped bring producers to collaborate with Irv and sell those beats to artists, per an interview with Angie Martinez.
“I took him from $5,000 to $50,000 to $100,000 in six months, and then I took him to $100,000 to $250,000 in another year … pushing the price up. Irv wasn’t — that was me. That was my job,” Ja Rule said.
After selling various beats and producing various hit records, Tommy Mottola, an executive at Sony Music, approached Irv to create what became Murder Inc.
“It wasn’t like he went to Sony and said, ‘Hey, give me a record deal,’” Chris explained.
Murder Inc. has signed artists such as Ashanti, Lloyd, Charli Baltimore, Black Child, and more, BlackPast reports. Ja Rule, however, wasn’t signed to Murder Inc. He was actually signed to Def Jam.
Still, he was a part of various hits tied to the label, including “Always on Time” featuring Ashanti; “What’s Luv?” by Fat Joe featuring Ashanti; “New York” featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss; and “Between Me and You” featuring Christina Milian, Billboard reports.
“I was Murder Inc., you know what I mean?” Ja Rule said on the “Earn Your Leisure” podcast. “I didn’t never really feel like a Def Jam artist, per se, because I did everything Murder Inc., you know what I mean? So that’s the way we built it, and that’s the way we moved it. And then it felt right because that’s how D (DMX) was moving with Ruff Ryders and that’s how Jay-Z was moving with Roc-A-Fella.”
Ja Rule also revealed he had a stake in the venture.
“Irv was like, ‘Yo, Rule, you know, they offering me a 50/50 joint venture situation, and I obviously I want you to be a part of the joint venture, but they’re not going to let you sign with me, but of course, I’m going be the one holding the flag helping build the company.’ … He took care of me,” Ja Rule said on the podcast.
In 2022, Irv sold his 50% stake in his Murder Inc. master recordings to Iconoclast. The deal was reportedly worth $300 million, according to Music Business Worldwide.
Later that year, Irv signed a deal with 300 Elektra Entertainment to retain ownership of any new master recordings released, Vibe also mentioned.
