20 Biggest Hot 100 Hits for Irv Gotti’s Murder Inc.: ‘Foolish’, ‘Always on Time’ & More
The late exec's Def Jam imprint sparked a run of hit R&B and rap records and catapulted Ja Rule and Ashanti to chart-topping heights.
At the turn of the millennium, Irv Gotti – who died Wednesday at age 54 – helped bring a new class of hip-hop and R&B acts to fame as the co-founder of Murder Inc. Records.
Also known as The Inc. Recordings, the imprint quickly established itself as a major force in the two genres, with Ja Rule and Ashanti emerging as its flagship stars. The Gotti brothers founded Murder Inc. Records, named after the famous Depression-era crime syndicate, as an imprint of Def Jam in 1998. The next year, Ja Rule burst to prominence with his debut album, Venni Vetti Vecci, which debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and gave the MC his first solo Billboard Hot 100 entry, “Holla Holla,” a No. 35 hit.
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From there, the rapper continued to produce hit after hit, including three No. 1 smashes – “Always on Time,” featuring Ashanti, and a pair of featured spots on Jennifer Lopez’s “I’m Real” and “Ain’t It Funny,” both of which trace their chart-topping status to their respective Ja Rule and Ashanti-penned Murder Remix versions.
Ashanti, too, became a powerhouse inside Murder Inc., thanks to her signature hooks across the imprint’s biggest hip-hop records that led to her own string of huge R&B crossover hits. That combination culminated in a historic feat in 2002, as she became the first woman – and only third act at the time, joining The Beatles and Bee Gees – with three simultaneous top 10 hits on the Hot 100.
Gotti himself carved out a Hot 100 pedigree largely as a producer, with a credit on 28 charting Hot 100 hits from songs performed by Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX, Jay-Z, Mary J. Blige, Fat Joe and Ye. As a credited artist, Gotti scored a top 10-charting hit on the Hot 100 with “Down 4 U,” which peaked at No. 6 in 2002 and was credited to Irv Gotti Presents The Inc. featuring Ja Rule, Ashanti, Charli Baltimore and Vita.
Given the imprint’s stamp and Gotti’s role in that pivotal era for hip-hop and R&B, Billboard revisits the Murder Inc. legacy with a review of its top 20 hits on the Hot 100.
Murder Inc.’s Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits ranking is based on weekly performance on the Hot 100 from its Aug. 4, 1958, start through Feb. 8, 2025. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at lower spots earning the least. Due to changes in chart methodology over the years, eras are weighted differently to account for chart turnover rates during various periods.
