XXXTentacion apparently had a $10 million album deal in the works at the time of his death last month. According to the New York Times, the rapper (born Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy) signed the deal with Empire Distribution, the independent music company behind his debut album 17, who offered the arrangement for what would’ve been his third album following the release of ? in March, according to multiple people familiar with the terms.
Empire founder Ghazi Shami wouldn’t comment on the reported deal, but did say that the rapper recorded “a significant amount of material” prior to his death. “Because of a clause in XXXTentacion’s last record contract, with a distribution unit of the giant Universal Music Group, the record may not be released until at least October, despite typical industry pressure to strike while the late rapper’s name is still in headlines,” the Times reports.
A posthumous video of the rapper attending his own funeral was released at the end of last month, and he currently holds the record for the most-streamed song in a single day on Spotify, with his track “SAD!” amassing 10.4 million plays on the day after his death in June. Read the Times‘ full report here.
