With a rap rep on the line

Rap mogul Irv Gotti, a drink in his hand and a scowl on his face, was standing poolside at a Holmby Hills mansion party in November when Marion “Suge” Knight arrived. A knowing observer watching the two imposing figures greet and embrace each other could easily imagine a torch being passed -- it was Knight’s Death Row Records that turned hard-core rap into a commercial music force in the 1990s, but it has been Gotti’s upstart Murder Inc. label that has been the genre’s signature success in the 21st century.

The 32-year-old Gotti has learned a lot from Knight’s career: Like his elder, he is a micro-manager, a relentless self-promoter, a savvy shaper of image and a street kid who fancies himself a dapper thug in his ivory suits and fedoras (hence the nickname “Gotti” for a kid born Irving Lorenzo). But while Knight has a long and violent criminal record, Gotti has been described as a turntable kid who grew up knowing the gang members but not running with them. If Knight is seen by some as a crook disguised as a music executive, Gotti has seemed just the opposite.

That may be changing. Federal investigators are pressing forward with a money-laundering probe of links between Gotti and Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff, a convicted drug kingpin from Queens, New York. The unfolding saga has caught the attention of the music world because it threatens to topple a producer who, in just six years, rose from a minor office job at a record label to become a brand-name mogul whose name and face are as familiar to rap fans as some of his stars. He also directs music videos and, in a venture with McGriff, has been planning a foray into film production.

The Murder Inc. stable of music stars includes Ja Rule, the rapper whose career U.S. sales are approaching 10 million albums, and Ashanti, the R&B; singer whose 2002 debut album has already surpassed 3 million in sales and has earned her five Grammy nominations, including best new artist.

Before launching Murder Inc. in 1999, Gotti also was an instrumental force in DMX’s early career and did some notable production work for Jay-Z, two of the bestselling rappers on the scene.

It was Ashanti’s ascendance, though, that cemented Gotti’s reputation.

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A perfect mix

“Ashanti is the one that personifies what his vision is for Murder Inc.,” says Elliott Wilson, editor in chief of XXL magazine, which covers hip-hop. “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.”

Death Row and Bad Boy were also shaped by dynamic personalities in Knight and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, respectively. Both men have also seen their careers tainted and slowed by criminal charges. Knight is in jail now after his arrest last month on parole violations involving his alleged associations with gang members. Combs was exonerated on gun and bribery charges in 2000, and publicly apologized for a previous, unrelated assault that did not result in a conviction. Now Gotti, who declined this week to be interviewed for this story, is also under scrutiny for the company he keeps.

Last week, federal agents served subpoenas at the New York offices of Vivendi Universal, the music corporation that has among its labels Island Def Jam, which in turn is a 50-50 partner in Murder Inc. Those subpoenas seek financial documents.

A week earlier, FBI agents seized the bank accounts of companies involved in “Crime Partners,” a Murder Inc. foray into film that is also produced and co-written by McGriff.

Three weeks ago, investigators swarmed Murder Inc.’s New York offices and carted off computers and files.

The probe has sent a chill through Gotti’s allies. A dozen executives, managers and artists contacted for this story declined to comment or spoke only on condition of anonymity. “This is a serious thing and it’s moving fast,” one executive said. “And nobody wants to say the wrong thing.”

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Feud with 50 Cent

There is also reticence due to an escalating feud that pits Gotti, Ja Rule and their camp against rapper 50 Cent. Gotti was charged with two other men in a March 2000 gang assault on 50 Cent, although charges were later dropped.

Supporters of Gotti maintain that he is being targeted unfairly, that his only offense is remaining loyal to an old neighborhood friend from Hollis, Queens. They also say that law enforcement agencies in New York have taken a rabidly hostile stance toward the rap community and may be inflating cases

During his childhood in Hollis, Gotti performed as DJ Irv and caught the attention of Russell Simmons, the rap impresario who co-founded Def Jam Records. Simmons declined to comment for this story, but in his autobiography, “Life and Def,” he wrote: “We listened to the records he played for us and saw his enthusiasm for the music and culture. We felt his vibe. So we hired him, and immediately he brought us DMX, who’s had three No. 1 pop albums in a row.”

Simmons also wrote that Gotti’s talents set him apart from the music industry’s faceless talent scouts. “Irv Gotti, the man who brought us DMX, got $3 million and his own label. The reason? The people in these buildings can’t do what Irv Gotti can do.”

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Starting out

Gotti’s production career, then under the name DJ Irv, began with his studio work with Mic Geronimo on that rapper’s 1995 debut album.

He would go on to produce music for Foxy Brown, Toni Braxton, Mary J. Blige, Big Pun and Beenie Man. He also worked with rapper Fat Joe, now Grammy-nominated for “What’s Luv?,” a song featuring Ashanti.

“I’ve been in the game for 10 years and I’ve done songs with some of the biggest and greatest, but I didn’t know what a producer was until I worked with Irv Gotti,” Fat Joe said. “He’s got great vision. And he makes huge songs, music for the masses.”

The rappers said Gotti was a forceful, confident presence in the studio with a clear map of his intentions.

Fat Joe also praised Gotti for his deft career guidance with his artists -- “He makes the videos, comes up with the ideas, everything” -- and noted that his work with DMX, Jay-Z and Ja Rule “probably saved Def Jam Records” when the storied label was sagging in the late 1990s.

Indeed, Gotti’s ability to wring platinum sales out of new acts and shape “thug love” songs that cut to the top of the charts has given him a Midas reputation, and his work with Ja Rule and others has also earned acclaim from hip-hop purists.

At the Holmby Hills party in November, Ja Rule and Ashanti mingled with TV stars, but there was a steady line of admirers waiting to greet Gotti as well.

“This new year, 2003, is going to be the best year for Murder Inc.,” he said before cutting short the conversation.

Later, Knight was asked to appraise the young Gotti and he spoke in glowing terms.

At the time, Knight did not know that he himself would be back in jail within weeks for parole violations.

“We’re going to be working together, me and Irv,” Knight said. “He’s a businessman. He’s a talent. He’s got a future.”