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You thought the drama surrounding Irv Gotti ended when he was found not guilty of laundering over a million dollars' worth of drug money? His legal fight was just the beginning. With the government sent back to its corner for now, I.G. is ready to reclaim what was once his: a dominant record label with multiplatinum artists.
While some might say the Inc.'s time has come and gone, Gotti begs to differ. Sure the label hasn't been selling records like it used to, but that's because there's been sabotage, he says. A spokesperson for the Universal Music Group denies that claim, but Gotti tells MTV News' Shaheem Reid that he was shut down by business partners he trusted and that even his good friend Jay-Z couldn't help him out.
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Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff
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MTV: Throughout your legal ordeal, there were questions about your friendship to convicted drug dealer Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff. Even people on the outside were saying, "What is this music mogul doing tied to this nefarious individual?"
Irv Gotti: The Kenneth McGriff thing is like ... I don't know, man, that's my friend — nothing more, nothing less. Certain people are gonna be like, "Well, you should choose better friends" or whatever. You know, where I'm from, a lot of the people that I know, they may not live a certain life that a lot of people approve of. So what am I to do? Just turn my back on them? Since the very first conversation I ever had with Supreme, it was about him wanting to do a movie and him not wanting to be anything like that and him wanting to do right, and I just tried to help him change his life and I just tried to help him do right. There's a clear-cut message that the government has sent: One, if you're a criminal, stay a criminal. Don't try to make no movie or don't try and do anything other than crime. And if you do try, we're gonna stop it because you're a criminal. We don't wanna hear you're changing your life. The second message is if you're someone like me that comes from that environment where people live these crazy lives, if you make it outta there, leave them in there, yo. If you help them, we're gonna mess with you, so don't help them or we're gonna bring you down. That's the thing I have a problem with.
MTV: You guys recently released the Ja Rule greatest-hits LP Exodus. On the song "Exodus," he says being in the Universal Music Group system was like being in jail.
Gotti: "Similar to institutionalism, like I did seven years in prison."
MTV: Yeah.
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Irving Lorenzo and
L.A. Reid
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Gotti: Let's dive into it. Let's talk about it. First off, Ja's Exodus and Ashanti's Collectables, I had to release those albums to leave [Def Jam]. It was part of a contractual thing. ... We called it Exodus because we were exiting Def Jam. Everything I'm about to say has no reflection whatsoever on Jay-Z, L.A. Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley and all the good people that worked at Def Jam. They were nothing but supportive. They tried to stick by my side as best they could. Let me tell you about the Universal Music Group. I started at the Universal Music Group, I started at Def Jam, everyone knows what I did, with Jay coming in, signing DMX, Ja, Ashanti, working with Foxy Brown, working with their soundtracks and going on an amazing spree and being a part of something that made close to a billion dollars. I was their golden child, they were gonna take this kid under their wing and tell him, "Def Jam will once be yours. Interscope will once be yours. You should be a company man," and they totally started mentoring me, the high powers.
MTV: Which high powers?
Gotti: I won't say their names. They shall remain nameless for the rest of my life. I believed in those two guys. They [said they] wanted me to be the guy for them, and I believed them. Then the government raided my offices. ... I'm not saying I wanted them to stand by my side and say, "The United States government is wrong." It would have been great. I was screaming at them that I'm innocent, and that would have been great. I understood that they didn't want to do that. I understood they didn't want to associate themselves with me, I could swallow that pill. Like, I've got to go through this alone and they've got to walk away from me. The pill I refuse to swallow is when I go to a Grammy party and I see said individuals that shall remain nameless, and I'm [standing] as close to them as I am to you, and I'm looking at them right in their eyes and they're looking at me and don't even acknowledge my presence. They don't even say hello. They don't even say, "Hey, Irv, how you doing? I hope you're doing good." I wish it didn't affect me, but it did. It cut me deep. [Warner Music Group CEO] Edgar Bronfman — one of my soldiers, one of the guys I really love — I called Edgar [that night] and said, "They didn't say hi to me." He said, "Don't worry about it, it's nothing personal." He said to come on over to his party. Edgar had always told me, "I'll take a picture with you, I'll stand by your side." I came to their party and Edgar made me feel great. He made it his business to keep his arm around me and walk through the whole party so everybody could see Irv Gotti is his man. Them Universal dudes, I made them a ton of money and they wouldn't even say hello to me. They know I believed in them.
MTV: You were interviewed for the book "Queens Reigns Supreme," and in it you said being kicked out of the Universal offices shortly after Murder Inc. was raided was a real low point.
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They said, "You've got to get out of here, and we're not giving you anything else. We're not paying. Don't come around here no more."
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Gotti: Being kicked out of the office wasn't a good feeling. I thought I could get past it, like, "This ain't nothing, it's just an office." But that was the first step the Universal Music Group did to shut me down. Then they put me in another office on 54th Street, but that only lasted a minute, a couple of months. So now they have me keep relocating and moving and you're changing numbers and changing this, changing that. It hurts you. I didn't understand that. Then when they changed me to the next office, they lowered the real boom. They said, "You've got to get out of here, and we're not giving you anything else. We're not paying. Don't come around here no more." That's when it was a termination agreement. "Maybe we'll let you keep your acts, maybe we won't. One thing is for certain: You're gonna get away from us." If you're a young executive and you're in that system, or an artist, if they flipped on me and I earned them close to a billion dollars, they'll flip on you in a heartbeat. The whole time I'm screaming to them, "I'm innocent! I didn't do this! Please, give me a chance. Let the truth come out." They spanked me. Use me as an example if you're in that system. Don't let them say they care about you; they don't care about you. You're nothing to them. The second they can spank you and treat you like the idiot they think you are, they're gonna do it. Just know that. If you're hot, get your money and reverse it on them. Like, "I know you think I'm an idiot, but I'm a hot idiot, so pay me."
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