Staff Picks: The 11 Best Non-Hits Produced by Irv Gotti

Irv Gotti passed away earlier this week at the age of 54.

While most remember him as the head of the Murder Inc. record label and their massive hits, Gotti got his start as a producer, talent scout, and an A&R before he talked Russell Simmons and Def Jam into giving him his own label. The Queens product famously had the foresight to introduce both Jay-Z and DMX to the storied label where the two MCs helped Def Jam reach unprecedented mainstream success at the time. Instead of focusing on the hugely successful singles he produced like Ashanti‘s “Foolish” or J.Lo‘s “I’m Real”, I decided to zero in on his non-hit b-sides as some have aged gracefully and have become underrated fan-favorites.

Now, I couldn’t include songs like Mic Geronimo’s “S—t’s Real” or DMX’s “What’s My Name” because those records had varying degrees of chart success when they were released. The same goes for songs like Jay-Z’s “Can I Get A…” featuring Amil and Ja Rule, “Grand Finale” featuring Nas, Method Man, Rule, and X, and Ja’s song “Holla, Holla”. Aside from “Can I Get A…” which introduced most of the world to Ja Rule and was a club banger at the time — the others I mentioned served as “street singles” as a way to placate rap fans who didn’t care much for radio-friendly rap singles when they went to buy certain albums from certain artists.

Irv has proven to be versatile when it came to the art of making beats and the list below further illustrates that versatility. Check out my picks for the 11 best b-sides produced by the late record executive.

May he rest in peace.