Murder Inc.

There are at least three groups by this name: 1. A short-lived industrial metal supergroup (formed 1991), w/ Killing Joke members & vocalist Chris Connelly. They consisted of Connelly; current Killing Joke members Geordie Walker, Paul Raven & Martin Atkins; former Killing Joke drummer “Big Paul” Ferguson; & Killing Joke live keyboardist John Bechdel. Unsurprisingly, their musical style is similar to, contemporaneous, Killing Joke's. The group produced a eponymous album and an accompanying remix EP, Corpuscle, before disbanding. A compilation album, Locate Subvert Terminate, contains both of these releases and live recordings. Connelly, Atkins, and Walker later founded another industrial supergroup, The Damage Manual. Personnel was: * Martin Atkins — Drums * John Bechdel — Keyboards * Chris Connelly — Vocals * Paul Ferguson — Drums * Paul Raven — Bass * Geordie Walker — Guitar _________________________________________________________________ 2. Murder INC is also used for songs performed by any members of the Murder Inc. Family aka The Murderers from The INC Records. Started as a short-lived rap supergroup consisting of Jay-Z, Ja Rule and DMX, it later developed into a Records Label ran by Irving Lorenzo Gotti. The Inc. Records (formerly known as Murder Inc.) established in 1997 as a record label, sponsored and owned by Irv Gotti. In 1999, Murder Inc. released its first album, Venni Vetti Vecci by Ja Rule. The album featured the hit single "Holla Holla". The album was executively produced by Irv Gotti and would go platinum, which would make Ja Rule and Murder Inc. one of the most popular rappers and labels in the industry respectively. During this time, Murder Inc. would sign female rapper Vita. In 2000, the label would begin to associate themselves with Lil' Mo, who would record two popular duets with Ja Rule, "Put It On Me" and "I Cry". That same year, Irv Gotti released the first Murder Inc. compilation, Irv Gotti Presents The Murderers. At this point, Murder Inc. was more popular than Bad Boy Records and Roc-A-Fella Records. They would sign Charli Baltimore and Ashanti during that year. Also in 2001, their friendship with Lil' Mo would grow sour because her tracks that were set to be released on Ja's third album were cut and replaced with duets with Ashanti. This would cause a minor feud as Lil' Mo would cut ties with the label. The label would soar to new heights during late 2001 and the summer of 2002 as Ashanti would release her multi-platinum debut, Ashanti, and it had three hits and Ja Rule had another big year. During the VMAs, Ashanti and Ja Rule both won big and did the same at the BET Awards. Murder Inc. would even sign Bobby Brown to the label. All of this positive feed was quickly coming to an end despite Ja Rule's album still going platinum. It sold well but did not live up to its expectations. On November 14, 2003, Irv Gotti held a press conference about the recent changes at Murder Inc., the beefs, the scandal and Ja Rule's trouble. In the end, he talked about changing the name from Murder Inc. to The Inc. Records. This became official in 2004, with the signing of Lloyd and the release of his debut album Southside. The Inc. Records spent the year of 2005 and parts of 2006 searching for a new home. Lorenzo first went to his friend Lyor Cohen at the Warner Bros. labels. Cohen offered a deal that would make Gotti the head of not only The Inc., but also Atlantic Records Group. In the deal it involved them buying The Inc. and Gotti getting paid the same as he did at Def Jam. The Inc. then ended talks with Warner Bros. as Gotti felt they would not get paid enough money. The Inc. Records would sign on to Universal Records (like Def Jam, a division of Universal Music Group) in early 2006 and begin recording their respective albums. Soon after settling in at Universal, Lorenzo would sign singer Ashley Joi and alternative singer/pianist Vanessa Carlton. On August 1, 2007, Ja Rule would return to radio and television on Sucker Free on MTV, where he debuted his single "Uh Oh" with Lil Wayne and his return to recording music. Irv Gotti and Eastwood have created The Inc. West with Eastwood serving as its president and Gotti will A&R. Techniec will also sign to the label and be appointed Vice President. Techniec's group Dynamic Certified will also be signed to the label. Irv Gotti has granted Ja Rule his own label Mpire Records. Rah Digga recently has sign with Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. They have also announced that they are trying to add the legendary Big Daddy Kane to the label. It has been reported that the R&B trio Blaque have signed to Murder Inc. It is rumored that Irv Gotti is splitting the Distribution for The Inc. between Universal Motown Records Group and Interscope-Geffen-A&M , . Irv Gotti recently signed Detroit rapper, T-Dot Raines in June 2008. In May 2009 Irv Gotti annnounced to Mtv News that he was releasing Ashanti from her contract with The Inc. Current Roster: * Lloyd * Vanessa Carlton * Ashley Joi * Thunderkatz * Black Child * Caddillac Tah * Ja Rule- has his own label Mpire * NEWZ * Harry O * 7 Aurelius * Chris Black * Dave Bing * D. Gift * Murder Inc. * Free (From 106 & Park) * Larissa Jae * Rah Diga Former Murder Inc Members * Ashanti (2001-2009) * Vita - departed Murder Inc a few years back - reasons are unknown * Charli 'Chuck' Baltimore - had also left the label because her album with the Inc was never released, sources suggest the funding and attention was always propelled to the Inc's Best selling artists, Ashanti and Ja, whilst the rest of the artists such as Charli had their albums pushed back and were consisently Ignored by Gotti. _________________________________________________________________ 3. Murder Inc was a hardcore punk band formed in Netherlands. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.