- Rapper XXXTentacion signed a $10 million deal for a new album weeks before he was shot and killed last month, The New York Times reports.
- XXXTentacion signed the deal with Empire, the independent record company that released his highly successful first two albums.
- Ghazi Shami, the founder of Empire, told the Times that the rapper had recorded "a significant amount of material" for his third album, which could see a release in October.
Rapper XXXTentacion signed a $10 million deal for his third studio album several weeks before he was shot and killed in South Florida last month, three sources close to the deal told The New York Times.
XXXTentacion, whose real name was Jahseh Onfroy, signed the contract with Empire, the independent record company that released his first two albums. "17," his first album, debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard albums chart last summer, and his second album, "?," hit No. 1 on the chart upon its release in April.
Ghazi Shami, the founder of Empire, told the Times that Onfroy had recorded "a significant amount of material" for his third album. The album reportedly won't be eligible for release until October due to a clause in Onfroy's last contract with Universal Music Group.
Onfroy's music saw a dramatic spike in streaming numbers following his death last month.
His single "Sad!" jumped from No. 52 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week after his death. The song was later accompanied by an eerie, posthumous video, filmed before his death but released a week after it, in which Onfroy attends his own funeral and gets into a fight with his own dead body.
Onfroy was fatally shot in his car last month outside a motorsports store in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Broward County police later arrested and charged a 22-year-old man named Dedrick D. Williams with first-degree murder in connection to Onfroy's death.
At the time of his death, Onfroy was awaiting trial for a 2016 domestic-abuse case. He faced charges of aggravated battery of his pregnant girlfriend, domestic battery by strangulation, false imprisonment, and witness tampering.
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