Ja Rule, Ashanti, Other Murderers Still Don't Give

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Murder Inc. CEO Irv Gotti is rightfully feeling a little a cocky these days — he has a lot of hits under his belt. Not only is he making all the right moves as an executive, what with franchise player Ja Rule's Pain Is Love almost triple platinum, but as a producer, he and 7 Aurelius (7 plays all the instruments on Gotti's tracks) have shaped heavily rotated soundscapes for Ja, and most recently, Jennifer Lopez and Fat Joe.

So this summer, even if a hailstorm of controversy surrounds the release of the second Irv Gotti Presents the Murderers LP — titled We Still Don't Give a F--- — as he hinted Wednesday, he's going to welcome it.  

In 2000, some found the moniker "The Murderers" too violent, causing Gotti and company to butt heads with record store retailers, music video outlets and even their label's distributor, Def Jam. Gotti intends to keep that name this time around, though, "just to piss everybody off," he said. The Murderers collective is made up of his label acts, including Ja, Ashanti, Charli "Chuck" Baltimore and Caddillac Tah.

"I don't care now, because musically it's so right," Gotti said while preparing to hit a Los Angeles studio with Ashanti. "That's what I want people to focus on. So that's why I'm gonna call it 'The Murderers' again. And when they ask me 'Why?' I'm gonna say, 'It doesn't matter. Listen to the record.' "

Gotti said he and his crew have already started recording and have the first single lined up, a remix of "Down Ass Chick" from Pain Is Love.

"You know how we're known for these big radio records — the remix to 'Down Ass [Chick]' is gonna break a record for radio play," Gotti, who's also going to begin work on Eve's next album, prophesized. "Ja, of course, [is on the song], and I got all my Murder Inc. ladies, Charli, Vita and Ashanti, featured on the record and shining. The women are going to go crazy. [The song has] a different beat, it's a totally new record. It stays in the 'Down Ass Chick' theme but it's a totally new record. It's a beast."