Irv Gotti has a lot of explaining to do, and explain he does: every week he gives us blow-by-blow commentary on the latest episode of Gotti's Way. After the jump, Irv talks about DMX's wife Tashera, signing Vanessa Carlton, hobnobbing with "talent," and what he means when he says, "Compromise doesn't work."

On whether Deb hanging out with DMX's wife, Tashera, and how that relates to the rivalry between Murder Inc.'s Ja Rule and DMX:

When me and X see each other, it’s love, it’s always love. X has a rivalry with Ja because [rap is] competitive, and he feels like Ja sounds like him or whatever. At the end of the day, they like all my brothers. I've known X longer than I know Ja. I knew X since '88, I've known Jay since '87, I met Ja in '91. Like, I love DMX, I love Tashera. I've known Tashera since '88. Tashera and Deb developed a relationship of their own when they met each other, and now they're like best friends. They go to church together, they talk with each other, everything like that.

Tashera relates to Deb. Some women, they might look at Deb, and they might frown at Deb, like, "Oh you putting up with this nigga or you should do this." Tashera like that because Tashira goes through things with X. And that's why their friendship is what it is. Like when Deb says, "Yo, Irv is on the road," Tashera knows exactly what that is.

On expanding Murder Inc. to include genres outside of hip-hop and R&B:

When I was growing up and I was a DJ, and I would mix mostly hip-hop and R&B, but every now and then, I would buy other records. I would drop Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight," and I would mix in "Nobody Beats the Biz." I broke George Michael in the hood. I mixed "Faith" with a hip hop beat, "Sucka MC’s." Even back then, I was already listening to different s***. I just loved music. I started listening to Seal -- when we was doing Jay-Z's first album, me and Jay used to ride around in his car and listen to Seal. And Jay used to catch flows off of the way he was singing. We'd listen to Staind. You know the lead singer Aaron Lewis, his voice and how he is f***ing incredible. So I always listened to a lot of music. It doesn't have to be hip-hop.

On signing Vanessa Carlton to Murder Inc.:

When Vanessa first came around me, she got on the piano and started playing. Yo, I heard it. I heard the talent and everything. I heard it. So with me being able to hear it, I'm able to talk about it and tell her why s*** is dope. She started looking at me like, yo, this motherf***er gets me. And if I get it, it doesn't matter if I come from a hip-hop background. If I get it, I'm gonna push it and promote it as hard as I can. 'Cause I really feel the s***. And a lot of executives in the business aren't like that. It's more business then music. For me, it's more music and then business.

On other kinds of "talent":

"Talent" means pretty chicks. If you hear me say that, that just means she's a bad chick. On video sets, that's what they call them. Like where's the talent? They don't even call them by their names, they call them talent. "Talent is in hair and makeup." "Hurry up with the talent." "We need talent on set." I call them that 'cause I'm an artist.

On his declaration, "Compromise doesn't work":

You being just attracted to one person in their entire life is not reality.  You're gonna see other people that you like, you're gonna see other people that you're gonna wanna get with. In this business, it’s extremely tough. You travel all the time, you're at parties all the time, you're meeting new people all the time, and these new people may want to meet you too. So if you're not [into the person you're with] 100 percent, you can easily f*** up. Say you just had a fight with your girl and you're like "Naggin' motherf***er…" and then you gotta go to L.A. for a week. You touch down, you gotta go to a party. You're there and this chick's all over you. That's where it falters. That's when I'm like, it's gotta be 100 percent. Your girl's gotta be your best friend. You gotta love the s*** out of her. You gotta think she's the sexiest person in the world. Even if it's your best friend, what if you don't wanna f*** your best friend no more? There is so much s*** that can lead to the demise of a relationship. And a lotta people say you have to work at it, you have to work at it,. If you have to work that hard at it, you're gonna f*** up. That's when you say, "If I just go f*** this person real quick, she ain’t gonna know."

And don't think this is just men. Women are creeping too, except they are way f***ing sneakier. They are way better at it. Women will f*** a dude, and they will forget about it. They block it out. They will deny that s*** to the grave. They deny it so hard that they actually believe that they didn't f*** this dude. Recently, I was talking to Jeff Olde, an executive at VH1, bloom and he started dying laughing. I was like, "Yo, motherf***ers always talk about men, but who you think men is f***ing? Women!" It takes two to tango here, ladies and gentlemen. We ain't the only ones doing f***ed-up s***, it's f***ed-up s*** being done across the board. It's just women are better at this s*** then men.

On women appreciating his honesty:

My friend was having a barbecue. His wife's mom is friends with Deb, she's an older woman. She saw me and Deb there, and when people see me and Deb together they bug out cause you would think we're together still. We're cool and friendly with each other now. So the older woman comes over to me and she's grillin' me: "What is wrong with you? She's giving me the older-woman grill, and I'm laughing at her while she’s grillin' me. I started hitting her with my honesty and my views and philosophy like: "Yo, what would you rather? Me go back and f*** up, be disloyal to Deb and have her be angry and dealing with that? Or me being honest?" And by the time I was finished she was like, "You know what? As crazy as it sounds, it seems like ya'll have found whatever little happiness and more power to you."

Related content
Gotti's Way show page

Comments

[So Plush]

Two words: Negro PLEASE...

If Deb likes it, I love it, but that is the oldest player bull-ish in the book...

[Miles]

Irv said Deb is screwed because no man wants a women with three kids.

I think Irv is wrong, because (1) Deb is a extremely beautiful Women. (2) Debbie is a great Mom (3) Deb has three great kids. I would marry deb in a heartbeat because she wants one man, truth, trust and honesty in a relationship.

[dolores graham]

Gotti is the most controliing man ever. He needs to listen sometime Stop Gotti and listen. Don't be so norrow minded. You don't want a women with three kids. It's some real men out there that don't have a problem with that. I think your problem is you know Deb is a good women and she can get a good man who will respect her and love her children.

[Sasha]

Gotti is an idiot!!
If Deb is smart she should divorce him and change the locks. He shouldn't be able to come and go as he pleases. He chose to leave. He plays on her mind so easily, it's a shame. She really shouldn't be so weak. She's a beautiful sister who does not deserve his ignorance. He's gonna lose in the long run anyway.