Tag Archives: Chris Gotti

Today In Hip Hop History: Irv and Chris Gotti Surrender To The FBI 17 Years Ago

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On this day in 2005, millennial music powerhouse Murder Inc. was put under pressure by the FBI, thus, forcing the surrender of label heads and brothers Irving and Christopher Lorenzo aka the Gotti Brothers on money laundering charges.

The FBI spotlighted the Gotti brothers as record execs with criminal ties, alleging that the Murder Inc. imprint was merely a front to launder proceeds from Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff’s underworld enterprise, The Supreme Team. Following McGriff’s executive-produced, full-length 2003 film Crime Partners, the Bureau claimed that the soundtrack to the movie, among other avenues of income of Murder Inc. was used to launder Supreme Team drug money and raided the Murder Inc. offices.

The Lorenzo brothers plead not guilty in their case against the FBI, spending upwards of $10 million in legal fees in their case against the government. Nevertheless, the brothers came out victorious, winning their case against the U.S. government and clearing their names, even with the government’s 98% conviction rate.

In an era where rappers getting indicted AND convicted by the government is virtually a normal occurrence, the big win for Murder Inc. was a win for Hip Hop and emphatically a piece of Hip Hop history!

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Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Beat The Feds 16 Years Ago

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Even with a 98% conviction rate, the federal government was no match for Irv Gotti and the Murder Inc. crew.

On this date in 2005, the U.S. government exonerated Irv and Chris Gotti along with their Murder Inc. after a two-year-long case in which the Lorenzo brothers were forced to prove that their successful, multi-million dollar record label was not a money-laundering operation for Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff of Queens’ legendary Supreme Team.

Even with multi-platinum artists such as Ja Rule, Ashanti and Lil’ Mo, the Def Jam subsidiary was still questioned about their affiliation with McGriff after Gotti funded a movie directed by the Supreme Team leader entitled Crime Partners, which was inspired by the infamous novel by famed author Donald Goines.

Following the January 2003 raid on the Murder Inc. offices, things for the crew were never the same. Gotti spent upwards of $10 million in legal fees fighting the government, the label had no distribution during the entire trial and the war with a rival rapper from Jamaica, Queen named 50 Cent had just begun. Nevertheless, the crew dropped the Murder moniker, never waived the white flag and stood tall against the government until they were victorious. Salute!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Beat The Feds 16 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

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Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Surrender To The FBI 16 Years Ago

Screen Shot 2021 01 26 at 3.51.05 PM

On this day in 2005, millennial music powerhouse Murder Inc. was put under pressure by the FBI, thus, forcing the surrender of label heads and brothers Irving and Christopher Lorenzo aka the Gotti Brothers on money laundering charges.

The FBI spotlighted the Gotti brothers as record execs with criminal ties, alleging that the Murder Inc. imprint was merely a front to launder proceeds from Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff’s underworld enterprise, The Supreme Team. Following McGriff’s executive-produced, full length 2003 film Crime Partners, the Bureau claimed that the soundtrack to the movie, among other avenues of income of Murder Inc. was used to launder Supreme Team drug money and raided the Murder Inc. offices.

The Lorenzo brothers plead not guilty in their case against the FBI, spending upwards of $10 million in legal fees in their case against the government. Nevertheless, the brothers came out victorious, winning their case against the U.S. government and cleared their names, even with the government’s 98% conviction rate.

In an era where rappers getting indicted AND convicted by the government is virtually a normal occurrence, the big win for Murder Inc. was a win for Hip Hop and emphatically a piece of Hip Hop history!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Surrender To The FBI 16 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

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Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Beat The Feds 14 Years Ago

Even with a 98% conviction rate, the federal government were no match for Irv Gotti and the Murder Inc. crew.

On this date in 2005, the U.S. government exonerated Irv and Chris Gotti along with their Murder Inc. after a two year long case in which the Lorenzo brothers were forced to prove that their successful, multi-million dollar record label was not a money laundering operation for Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff of Queens’ legendary Supreme Team.

Even with multi-platinum artists such as Ja Rule, Ashanti and Lil’ Mo, the Def Jam subsidiary was still questioned about their affiliation with McGriff after Gotti funded a movie directed by the Supreme Team leader entitled Crime Partners, which was inspired by the infamous novel by famed author Donald Goines.

Following the January 2003 raid on the Murder Inc. offices, things for the crew were never the same. Gotti spent upwards of $10 million in legal fees fighting the government, the label had no distribution during the entire trial and the war with a rival rapper from Jamaica, Queen named 50 Cent had just begun. Nevertheless, the crew dropped the Murder moniker, never waived the white flag and stood tall against the government until they were victorious. Salute!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Irv And Chris Gotti Beat The Feds 14 Years Ago appeared first on The Source | The Magazine of Hip Hop Music,Culture and Politics.

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Chris Gotti Details the Time Suge Knight Tried to Steal Ja Rule from Murder Inc

A lot of surprising things go on behind-the-scenes of the music and entertainment industry that the average person won’t know about. Chris Gotti detailed a not-so surprising story, but it was still very interesting.

Gotti stopped by Doggie Diamonds’ No Filter Podcast and discussed his relationship with the infamous Death Row Records CEO, Suge Knight, who is currently serving time for murder. According to Chris, there was a moment in history when Suge tried to snatch Ja Rule from Murder Inc records and welcome him to Death Row.

“I f*ck with Suge, but you know it wasn’t always good,” he said. “He showed a good side but he made one move to do…but all predators make one move. They try you, and if you don’t stand right, you gon’ get tested, right? That’s a predator. That is the absolute…anyone who deals with a predator or is a predator, if they try something, it’s because they’re seeing how far they can get away with something.”

Chris Gotti said although Suge tried them, Murder Inc. stood their ground and he backed off. “[It was] when Ja was doing Blood in My Eye and he made a move for Ja Rule. Kevin Liles calls me from the office talking ’bout, ‘Suge Knight is in here talkin’ ’bout Ja Rule is his artists’ [and] ‘What happened in L.A.?’ I speak to Irv and was basically like, ‘Imma go see him.’ Irv wasn’t in New York at the time. Irv was like, ‘Do what you want.’”

Eventually, the two men sat down and had a conversation about it and squashed it. He also mentioned that Kevin Liles, then-President of Def Jam, was “shook” when he called Chris into his office.

Check out the interview in its entirety below:

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