Irv Gotti, a noted record executive, music producer and entrepreneur best known as the founder of Murder Inc. Records, has died, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. He was 54. T

A founder of Murder Inc. Records, he helped launch the careers of Ja Rule and Ashanti and was credited as a producer on 28 records that made the Billboard Hot 100.

Irv Gotti, a music mogul who founded Murder Inc. Records and was behind major hip-hop and R&B artists such as Ashanti and Ja Rule, has died. He was 54.