IRV GOTTI IS COOL WITH THE MURDER INC NAME

(Murder) Inc. Records CEO Irv Gotti, who was acquitted of federal money laundering and racketeering charges late last year, is no longer wooried about the negative implications of the name of his label. Gotti told MTV.com, “It’s a funny thing with the name change, because it never changed even when I changed it. Everyone still said it was Murder Inc. No one, no one called it The Inc. I had a big press conference (in 2003) and we stood up and said, ‘Listen, it’s The Inc.’, and everyone went, ‘Yeah, so Murder Inc. went and tried to change their name.'”

The mogul added, “So I tried to change it, but it didn’t change. Am I officially changing it back? I think it officially never left. And I like where it is right now, so, you know, it’s officially The Inc., and if certain people out there don’t like saying the word ‘murder,’ a’ight, well then it’s The Inc., but for the streets and most everybody else, it’s still Murder Inc., and it’s a true testament to me doing pretty good. Once you do something well, that’s who you are.”

Gotti’s Murder Inc. Records is currently looking for a new distributor. According to sources close to the situation, Gotti may be leaning towards signing with the Warner Music Group so that he can reconnect with his mentor, Lyor Cohen, who gave him his start at Def Jam. The Inc.’s roster currently includes: Ashanti, Ja Rule, Lloyd, and Blackchild.