Did Jay-Z and Irv Gotti have beef? History between the two explored as Roc Nation founder attends DJ's funeral 

Famous hip-hop executive Irv Gotti passed away at the age of 54, as announced by his three children on social media. They shared:

"It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved father, Irving 'Irv Gotti' Lorenzo, on February 5, 2025."

A private funeral service for the Murder Inc. co-founder was held on February 19, 2025, at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York. Jay-Z was among the artists who attended Irv Gotti's funeral. While the two were once close, Irv and Jay-Z later had beef with each other.

During his appearance on REVOLT's Drink Champs in August 2023, Irv Gotti spoke about his past feud with Hov. The late hip-hop executive mentioned that things got ugly between him and Jay-Z after he attempted to sign the former's rival, Nas, to Murder Inc. This happened around the time Hov responded to Nas' diss track Ether with his track Super Ugly.

In the interview, Irv expressed regret at his decision, which led to sabotaging his friendship with Jay-Z. He said:

"My ambition took over me when it shouldn’t have, because I should have thought of my brother Jay,” he said. “So for the record, I’m a fool for doing this. This is one of the biggest regrets of my life.”

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Irv Gotti's older brother recalls how the late hip-hop executive's move ruined his friendship with Jay-Z

Irv Gotti and Jay-Z were not always at odds. The hip-hop executive produced Hov's Can I Live and played a key role in getting Ain't No Ni**a from single to radio. Irv was also Jay-Z's tour DJ and helped facilitate a joint venture between Universal Music Group's Def Jam and Hov's Roc-A-Fella Records.

During his Drink Champs appearance, Irv talked about the positive aspects of his relationship with Jay-Z, stating:

“People don’t realize, I’ve known Jay since 1987. I went to London with him and Jaz-O when I was 17 years old. Me and Jay-Z is 30 years in. Fuck the music, fuck the money, I love Jay, that’s my brother.”

Additionally, in an episode of Trapping Anonymous, Irv Gotti's older brother, Chris Gotti, recalled how the feud between the rapper and the late hip-hop executive began. Chris said that he and Irv met Jay-Z at Baseline Studios, where the latter defended his move to sign Hov's rival Nas to Murder Inc., stating:

"It’s good business. We gon’ make a lot of money."

Chris recalled that at the time, Jay-Z looked at Irv thinking, why did he want to side with his enemy, while Chris thought Irv was crazy to make such a move. Additionally, Irv tried to make Jay-Z understand that he didn't have a beef with Nas, and Hov agreed to the same. At the time, Chris believed Jay-Z only agreed for the sake of it and didn't believe in Irv's perspective.

This led to Jay-Z joining forces with 50 Cent for a 2003 Roc The Mic Tour and collaborating on a Reebok commercial, where Hov and Cent were seen promoting sneakers. 50 Cent is known to have had a longstanding beef with Irv Gotti, Ja Rule, and Murder Inc. for years. Indicating how Jay-Z formed a connection with 50 Cent to get back at Irv trying to sign his rival Nas, Chris Gotti mentioned:

“What did Jay do? He went on tour with 50 Cent, he did a sneaker with 50 Cent, they doing commercials with 50 Cent. Then [JAY-Z] came back to Irv and said, ‘It’s good business.'”

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Irv Gotti passed away due to a stroke, and his funeral was attended by prominent names in the industry like Ja Rule, Vita, Ashanti, Lloyd, and Charli Baltimore.