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Murder Inc. Records, one of the most successful urban music labels during the 90s and early 2000s, has a a five-part docuseries coming this summer on BET. Executive produced by Ja Rule and label co-founder Irv Gotti, it will incorporate unseen footage to tell “the untold tale of the rise, sudden fall and redemption” of the former $100 million company.
“My life and Murder Inc. has been filled with many highs and lows. I got to work with my brothers and a lot of great people; from Jay Z, DMX, Fat Joe, Mary J Blige, to name a few,” Gotti said in a statement. “Also, I got to start my record label, Murder Inc. Records, with Ja Rule by my side. My life was filled with great lows, but I’m not ashamed of those lows. It all helped make me the person I am today. So, with this documentary series, I plan to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help me GOD.”
Along with Ja Rule, the Muder Inc. roster also boasted R&B superstars like Ashanti, Christina Milian, and Lloyd at its height and notched a pack of platinum-certified hits, including “Mesmerize,” “What’s Luv?” and “Foolish.”
But come the mid-2000s, the label begun suffering from problems within it as well as from outside of it. In 2005, the U.S. Attorney’s Office unveiled that Murder, Inc. was the prime focus of “coordinated initiative” that concerned the FBI, ATF, IRS, and the NYPD. Per the results of their investigations, the label was reportedly “concealing the profits of its narcotics-trafficking operations by laundering more than $1 million of drug proceeds in a variety of ways.”
However, the label’s public disfavor really came as the result of one particular Queens rapper: Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Fiddy’s meteoric rise in hip-hop, and his expansion beyond the music landscape, was a big part of Murder Inc.’s downfall.
Five years ago, Gotti teased the resurrection of his label with an IG post and partnered with 300 Entertainment, created by previous Def Jam bigwigs Kevin Liles and Lyor Cohen.
“Music is in our DNA. We thank our long-standing partner Irv Gotti, and the many talented artists at the iconic label for trusting our brand to tell their personal and inspiring stories,” said Tiffany Lea Williams, Executive Vice President of BET Unscripted Programming, in a statement. “We look forward to bringing viewers a compelling music documentary series that reveals how this label consequently changed the music industry forever.”
