Billboard Breaks Down The Money Young Rappers Are Getting On Record Deals

There's an article on Billboard's website today titled "A Hip-Hop Signing Frenzy Sends New Record Deal Prices Soaring."

In it, they detail the value of the some of the deals young rappers have been getting.

Juice WRLD [who just signed with Interscope for 3$ million] is one of a slew of new rappers in recent months who have jumped from pop obscurity to seven-figure major-label contracts -- Los Angeles' 03 Greedo told Billboard that his December deal with Alamo/Interscope was for $1.7 million, and Lil Pump re-signed with Warner Bros. Records in early March for $8 million, say sources. Also landing deals worth over $1 million during the past year have been Lil Xan (Columbia), City Morgue's ZillaKami and Sos Mula (Republic), Shoreline Mafia (Atlantic) and SahBabii, who Warner Bros. Records signed for about $2 million, according to other sources. It's a bidding-war frenzy reminiscent of the 1990s, fueled by the streaming-revenue growth in the record business and suddenly potent marketing outlets like Pigeons & Planes and Lyrical Lemonade, which have helped break Lil Pump, Ski Mask the Slump God, Lil Xan and Lil Skies.

But that's not the whole story. Laurie Soriano, an attorney for acts including Travis Scott and Frank Ocean, explained what you probably suspect -- when you hear about a deal and dollar total, you don't know exactly what it means.

"Clients are saying, 'So-and-so had a $10 million deal!' " she says. "You don't know what the $10 million means, though. You don't know if they're combining all the advances under the deal or if that includes recording funds that are paid to other artists. Some of it is a bit of a game of hype."

Regardless, it seems like it's a good time to be a young rapper.