Murder Inc. Records

After helping Def Jam with the success of DMX, Jay-Z, and Ja Rule, Russell Simmons gave Irv Gotti his own label under Def Jam. While watching Biography on A&E during gangster week, a Murder, Inc. logo appeared on the screen and Irv Gotti decided to use the name for his label because Murder, Inc. put out murder hits and Irv wanted to put out hit records. In 1998, Murder Inc. signed its first few artists Ja Rule, Black Child, and Tah Murdah. On June 1, 1999, Murder Inc. released its first studio album, Venni Vetti Vecci by Ja Rule. The album featured the hit single "Holla Holla" and soon went Platinum in the U.S., which made Ja Rule and Murder Inc. among the most popular artists and labels in the industry, respectively.

In 2000, the label began to associate itself with Lil' Mo, who would record two popular duets with Ja Rule, "Put It on Me" and "I Cry". That same year, Irv Gotti released the first Murder Inc. compilation, Irv Gotti Presents: The Murderers.

Murder Inc. would sign Charli Baltimore and Ashanti during that year. Also in 2001, the label's friendship with Lil' Mo would grow sour as her tracks that were set to be released on Ja's third studio album were cut and/or replaced with other female artists.

This would cause a minor feud with Lil' Mo as she cut ties with the label. The label reached its peak of success from mid-2001 to early 2003. Ja Rule's release of his multi-platinum selling album Pain Is Love was soon followed by Ashanti's multi-platinum selling debut, Ashanti, which spawned three hit singles on the Billboard charts.

Charli Baltimore scored two hit singles that year with both Ashanti and Ja Rule ("Down Ass Bitch" and "Down 4 U", also featuring Vita). During this time, Murder Inc. started associating with Nas as he collaborated with the Inc.'s top two recording artists on several records (such as "The Pledge").[2] Ja Rule's next album (The Last Temptation) went Platinum in the U.S.

On January 3, 2003, Murder Inc.'s office was raided by federal agents trying to find evidence that Murder Inc. was funneling and laundering drug money for Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff.[1] Another setback the label suffered was its core artist Ja Rule participating in a feud with rapper 50 Cent which had been occupant since 1999. Blood in My Eye, Ja's fifth studio album, released in November 2003, included diss tracks aimed at 50 and G-Unit, as well as Eminem.[3] The album didn't live up to any commercial success. Three months earlier, Ashanti obtained more success on her own with a second studio album, Chapter II, becoming her second number one album in her career.[4] Charli Baltimore, however, didn't have any time to release an album under the label, causing her to leave in October 2003.

Murder Inc. and TVT Records were also blocked by Universal from releasing a Cash Money Click reunion album featuring Ja Rule, due to his contractual obligations.[5] Def Jam was ordered to pay TVT $132 million in punitive damages in 2003.[6] However, Def Jam won an appeal and instead only paid TVT $126,720.[7]

On December 4, 2003, Irv Gotti held a press conference about recent changes at Murder Inc. , the feuds, the scandal, the investigation from the IRS, and Ja Rule's troubles. There, Irv Gotti announced that Murder Inc. would be changed to The Inc. In 2004, Lloyd was signed and released his debut album Southside.

Ja Rule would see his music return to form, with his Gold RIAA-selling album R.U.L.E.. Ashanti would also release her fourth studio album, Concrete Rose. Both albums weren't as successful as both artists' previous works.

At the end of 2004, they were ordered to leave Def Jam offices while the investigations were on. When the trials began in early 2005, Def Jam made them honor their contracts and release compilation albums; then they were not re-signed.

Murder Inc. spent 2005 and part of 2006 searching for distribution. Lorenzo first went to Lyor Cohen at Warner Bros. Cohen offered a deal that would make Gotti the head of not only Murder Inc., but also Atlantic. In the deal it involved them buying Murder Inc. and Gotti getting paid the same as he did at Def Jam. Murder Inc. then ended talks with Warner as Gotti felt they would not get paid enough money.

Gotti also held short talks with Capitol and Interscope. Although it seemed as if they were going to sign with Atlantic, Universal then offered Gotti a 7-year deal and 50% ownership of his materials and the label along with the job as A&R, a higher-paying role. A portion of the deal was financed by National Talent Agency out of Southern California.

The Inc. would sign on to Universal Motown (like Def Jam, a division of Universal) in early 2006 and soon began releasing music. After settling in at Universal, Lorenzo would sign Vanessa Carlton, who had been recently been recruited by Robert Krout and Christopher Dixon of National Talent shortly before the company's financial contribution.

On August 1, 2007, Ja Rule would return to radio and television on Sucker Free on MTV, where he debuted his single "Uh-Ohhh!!" with Lil Wayne and his return to recording music. Irv Gotti and Eastwood created Murder Inc. West with Eastwood serving as its president and Gotti on A&R. Techniec also signed to the label and was appointed vice president. Techniec's group Dynamic Certified also signed to the label. Irv Gotti later gave Ja Rule his own label, MPire.

In May 2009, Irv Gotti announced to MTV that he was releasing Ashanti from her contract with Murder Inc. A month later Lloyd—who had been with Murder Inc. for 5 years—asked to be released from his contract. Lloyd cited the need for more control and change as reasons for his departure from the slowly shrinking label. "I'm ready for a change. There's no bad blood. I just feel I need to take more control over my career and get a fresh start. Hopefully Irv can understand my position," Lloyd explained in a press release.

"We find ourselves in limbo for the second time in three years," Henry Lee, Lloyd's manager said in a statement. "It's frustrating to know that opportunities to advance Lloyd's career are out there but we can't exploit them due to our current situation. Even though Lloyd is appreciative of the opportunity that has been afforded him by Murder Inc., he feels it's time for him to move on and seek opportunities that will allow him to build and enhance his brand."

That same year, Ja Rule announced that he was no longer signed to Murder Inc. as well, the same label he had been with since its beginnings in 1997. Ja Rule decided to go independent on his own label, Mpire, which is distributed through Fontana. Although Ja Rule had departed from Murder Inc., he revealed he was still on great terms with Irv Gotti and the two worked together for Ja Rule's next album, Pain Is Love 2. Baltimore soon left the label in 2010 for new opportunities.

In September 2013, Murder Inc. was relaunched as an umbrella label under Irv Gotti's new label, Visionary. On September 27, Murder Inc. released its first songs in years, Ja Rule's "Fresh Out da Pen" and "Everything", both produced by Murder Inc./Visionary producers Reefa and Myles William.[8]

In June 2017, it was announced that Murder Inc. had partnered with 300.[9]