section_path: Career/1985-1996: Early career and TVT
section_name: 1985-1996: Early career and TVT
paragraph_text: 1985-1996: Early career and TVT
  
  Gotti's career started as a preteen when his sister Christina bought him turntables for his birthday. Under the moniker DJ Irv, he would make mixtapes with beats and DJ mixes in the family basement, selling them for $10 at local barbershops. According to rapper Jaz-O, Gotti was one of the first to do hip-hop street mixtapes. Many of his initial mixtape customers were hustlers and drug dealers, and for a brief period Gotti was a small-time dealer of both cocaine and crack cocaine. After a run in with local police, however, he left the trade. By the age of fifteen, Gotti would go on to DJ at parties at local parks and nightclubs in Queens. This caught the attention of record executive Russell Simmons, and rappers Rev Run and LL Cool J would visit his family's home as word spread.
  
  In 1987, Gotti and Jaz-O were under the same management company Joss Productions, and Jaz-O's record label had an idea to record an album with a concept similar to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with Gotti as the DJ, Jaz-O as the rapper and Jay-Z as the hype man. While recording the album Word to the Jaz in London in 1988, Jay-Z and Gotti began to foster their relationship on the trip. In 1988, while on a promotional tour for Jaz-O, Gotti was roommates with producer Chad Elliott, who later introduced him in Yonkers to DMX and brothers Joaquin "Waah" and Darrin "Dee" Dean, who had mentioned they were creating a company called Ruff Ryders together. In 1989, Elliott and Gotti worked on a beat called "Born Loser", which became one of DMX's first music demo 's and was later released as his debut single in 1992. Producer Large Professor later taught Gotti how to produce on a E-mu SP-12 and Akai S950 while recording the 1991 remix for " It's a Boy " by Slick Rick.
  
  One of the first musicians he discovered was rapper Mic Geronimo at a local high school talent show. Gotti, under the moniker DJ Irv, produced and independently distributed the 1993 recording of " Shit's Real " by Mic Geronimo; the single was re-released in 1994 under Blunt/TVT. This helped Gotti secure a job as a talent scout in the A&R department at the record label, where he was hired by Steve Gottlieb in 1995. During his time at TVT, he signed Mic Geronimo and Queens-based rap group Cash Money Click, of which rapper Ja Rule was a member, after discovering them in 1991. Gotti produced songs on Mic Geronimo's 1995 debut album The Natural, which rap supergroup Murder Inc. consisting of DMX, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z was first featured on the song "Time to Build". Gotti convinced Waah to buy him a Akai MPC60 drum machine to produce records for DMX, which resulted in the 1995 single "Make a Move".
  
  In 1995, Jay-Z claimed DJ Irv to be "The Don of Hip-Hop", giving him the moniker Irv Gotti, which was inspired by mobster John Gotti. Gotti later produced the song "Can I Live" from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and helped service " Ain't No Playa " to radio. He also acted as Jay-Z's tour DJ, and helped create the joint venture between Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam in 1997.
  
  Gotti's career started as a preteen when his sister Christina bought him turntables for his birthday. Under the moniker DJ Irv, he would make mixtapes with beats and DJ mixes in the family basement, selling them for $10 at local barbershops. According to rapper Jaz-O, Gotti was one of the first to do hip-hop street mixtapes. Many of his initial mixtape customers were hustlers and drug dealers, and for a brief period Gotti was a small-time dealer of both cocaine and crack cocaine. After a run in with local police, however, he left the trade. By the age of fifteen, Gotti would go on to DJ at parties at local parks and nightclubs in Queens. This caught the attention of record executive Russell Simmons, and rappers Rev Run and LL Cool J would visit his family's home as word spread.
  
  In 1987, Gotti and Jaz-O were under the same management company Joss Productions, and Jaz-O's record label had an idea to record an album with a concept similar to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, with Gotti as the DJ, Jaz-O as the rapper and Jay-Z as the hype man. While recording the album Word to the Jaz in London in 1988, Jay-Z and Gotti began to foster their relationship on the trip. In 1988, while on a promotional tour for Jaz-O, Gotti was roommates with producer Chad Elliott, who later introduced him in Yonkers to DMX and brothers Joaquin "Waah" and Darrin "Dee" Dean, who had mentioned they were creating a company called Ruff Ryders together. In 1989, Elliott and Gotti worked on a beat called "Born Loser", which became one of DMX's first music demo 's and was later released as his debut single in 1992. Producer Large Professor later taught Gotti how to produce on a E-mu SP-12 and Akai S950 while recording the 1991 remix for " It's a Boy " by Slick Rick.
  
  One of the first musicians he discovered was rapper Mic Geronimo at a local high school talent show. Gotti, under the moniker DJ Irv, produced and independently distributed the 1993 recording of " Shit's Real " by Mic Geronimo; the single was re-released in 1994 under Blunt/TVT. This helped Gotti secure a job as a talent scout in the A&R department at the record label, where he was hired by Steve Gottlieb in 1995. During his time at TVT, he signed Mic Geronimo and Queens-based rap group Cash Money Click, of which rapper Ja Rule was a member, after discovering them in 1991. Gotti produced songs on Mic Geronimo's 1995 debut album The Natural, which rap supergroup Murder Inc. consisting of DMX, Ja Rule, and Jay-Z was first featured on the song "Time to Build". Gotti convinced Waah to buy him a Akai MPC60 drum machine to produce records for DMX, which resulted in the 1995 single "Make a Move".
  
  In 1995, Jay-Z claimed DJ Irv to be "The Don of Hip-Hop", giving him the moniker Irv Gotti, which was inspired by mobster John Gotti. Gotti later produced the song "Can I Live" from Jay-Z's 1996 debut album, Reasonable Doubt, and helped service " Ain't No Playa " to radio. He also acted as Jay-Z's tour DJ, and helped create the joint venture between Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam in 1997.