Hit-Boy Thanks JAY-Z For Helping Him Renegotiate His Publishing Deal With Universal

Hit-Boy reveals that JAY-Z once helped him get out of a draconian deal with Universal Publishing, a decision the producer describes as “life changing.”

In a recent appearance on The shopHit-Boy has opened up about signing a bad deal with Universal as a teenager that has lasted nearly two decades. “I’m actually still in my publishing situation,” the West Coast native said of his contract with the music conglomerate.

“I signed when I was 19 and I’m 37, so I’ve been in the contract for a long time with Universal Publishing (…) The way it was set up was just old terminology in contracts.”

In addition to Hov, Hit-Boy also thanked Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez for helping him rework his publishing deal with Universal, as he will be a free agent after fulfilling his remaining obligations to the company.

“Thanks to Desiree (Perez) and JAY-Z and people like that, I’m at a point where I’m at now, where I have an end date. Before, my whole career, I was working without a clear end date. The only way we really make money is through publishing, you know what I mean?”

The Grammy Award winner added: “It’s going to change my life, you know what I mean? Just having the freedom as a grown man, I haven’t been able to get other contracts or advances in different places like my counterparts. I eat very well, but I know what that really means.”

Hit-Boy’s relationship with JAY-Z goes back more than a decade, as he helped produce several tracks on Hov and Kanye West’s 2011 album. Look at the throneincluding the hit single “Ni**as in Paris.” The track won Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

The board member has been transparent about his financial and business dealings in the past, having previously shared that he was once on the verge of bankruptcy, despite his string of production credits on hit records.

“I came in 2012, I had stupid bread; in 2017, I was lying on the floor with zero dollars in my account after having millions, curled up (in a fetal position), crying,” Hit-Boy told Akademiks. Off the record podcast in late 2022. “Nobody around me, all alone, and I was living in a mansion in Beverly Hills. I blew it. I was investing in my friends, I was giving money to everyone around me.”

See Hit-Boy’s appearance on The shop below.

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