The cause of death of legendary ’00s hip-hop pioneer and co-founder of Murder Inc Records Irv Gotti has been revealed.
Earlier this month, it was reported that the revered record executive, producer, and mogul passed away on February 5. Tributes quickly followed – led by his label signees and longtime friends Ashanti and Ja Rule – honouring the New York native.
Now while on a 2Way podcast with Damon Dash, Irv’s brother Chris Gotti Lorenzo shared that the cause of his brother’s death was a “massive hemorrhagic stroke” while “he ate a bunch of Chinese food while playing poker.”
It would have been his second stroke in six months, initially suffering from a minor one last August. Both incidents were a result of Gotti’s battle with Type 1 Diabetes.
“He was diagnosed [with diabetes] in his late 40’s,” Lorenzo said in the interview, “But Irv doesn’t go to the doctors – that’s why he was so late to be diagnosed. When he finally did get a real physical and check-up, he didn’t believe it.”
Lorenzo revealed that he and Irv’s father also had diabetes, originally he was diagnosed with Type 2 before it transformed into Type 1. They saw how he “suffered in the last three years of his life,” so it became important for them both to “go [out] on their own terms.”
“Diabetes is not what kills you, it’s always something else,” Lorenzo explained. “It’s what it does to the body that takes your life. It broke down [Irv’s] body, causing the blockages that went to his brain, but it all stems from the issues of diabetes.”
Gotti (real name Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr.) rose to prominence in the early 2000s as a key figure in shaping the careers of Ja Rule, Ashanti and more. He was first an A&R for Def Jam, being instrumental in the careers of DMX and Jay-Z, before creating the iconic Murder Inc. label – an influential hub for rap and R&B. Gotti helped oversee Number One songs and albums, producing tracks for Jennifer Lopez, Kanye West, and more – cementing his legacy in the music industry.
However, Gotti’s career faced setbacks, including a high-profile FBI raid in 2005 where he and his brother were charged with money laundering, which they were later acquitted of.
Following the trial, Gotti shifted focus to television, creating the drama series Tales and executive-producing the 2022 five-part docuseries The Murder Inc. Story. Despite these challenges, Gotti remained a significant cultural figure until his death in 2025.