Irv Gotti Reveals Botched Suge Knight Industry Power Move

Written By S. Samuel

Former Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti has revealed past plans he and ex-Death Row Records owner Suge Knight had to set up a labor deal for all musicians.

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Irv claims Knight came up with the idea and approached him about it in the early 2000’s.

“It wasn’t a distribution; it was a union. In the music business, the artists, we have no union. There’s no health care, it’s nothing like that. It should be done,” Gotti explained in an interview. “It was all his plan, and it was a h*ll of a plan — He was like, ‘OK, say you got a million-dollar budget. We’re gonna make the record label make it a million and one.’ Now, this will all get recouped back to the artist, but that hundred thousand will go for the union.” (MTV)

The union plans were later botched after Gotti’s Murder Inc. office was raided in 2003.

A task force of FBI agents and New York Police Department (NYPD) officers raided the Manhattan offices of urban imprint Murder Inc. early Friday. The raid came as part of a federal probe of label founder Irv Gotti’s alleged ties to drug trafficking, money laundering, and gang activities, according to a Los Angeles Times report. A former Def Jam Music Group A&R executive, Gotti (real name: Irving Lorenzo) started Murder Inc. in 1997 and has been instrumental in the careers of numerous pop and hip-hop stars, including Ashanti, Ja Rule, Jay-Z, DMX, and Jennifer Lopez. (Billboard)

Outside of union talk, Suge Knight recently made headlines for getting a documentary approved for premium network Showtime.

Controversial Death Row Records co-founder Marion “Suge” Knight Jr. is the focus of a documentary that will be produced by and broadcast on Showtime, the network announced Tuesday. Tentively titled “Suge Knight,” the film will be directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day,” “Brooklyn’s Finest”) and co-produced by Fuqua and Bradley J. Fischer (“Black Swan,” “Shutter Island,” “Zodiac”). Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Times reporter Chuck Philips is also one of the film’s co-producers. Showtime said the Knight film is the first in a series of documentaries for the network from “talented and prestigious filmmakers” that “will spotlight iconic and controversial figures.” (The Los Angeles Times)

Co-producer Bradley J. Fischer also released a statement confirming the deal last month.

“Suge Knight’s reputation and rise to power in the music business has become the stuff of legend, and he remains one of the entertainment industry’s most provocative and enduring myths,” said Fischer. “But while his name elicits an immediate and powerful reaction from people around the world, very few can legitimately claim to know the man. Antoine Fuqua and I are thrilled to be partnering with SHOWTIME to tell this remarkable story and take audiences behind a curtain that most have been terrified to even approach.” (Statement)

Check out some past footage of Irv Gotti below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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