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Pusha T and Malice had to drop a seven-figure sum to get out of their deal with Def Jam.
According to an interview Billboard published on Tuesday, June 3, Push's manager, Steven Victor, explained how the Virginia rappers were able to make the move from their longtime record label to Roc Nation amid issues Def Jam's parent company, UMG, had with Clipse's upcoming collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. Following Def Jam's decision to cut ties with the duo, Push and Malice ended up paying "an insane amount of money" to get out of their deal and Push's solo deal.
"They said, 'Find another deal, and let’s figure out a business,'" Victor explained. "They didn’t drop us. They were like, 'Pay us this money' — which was an exorbitant amount of money, a s**t ton of money — 'and we’ll let you out the deal.' That’s what happened. We paid them the money, an insane amount of money. It wasn’t, like, $200,000. It was a lot of money for an artist to come up with. They bought themselves out of the deal."
Victor recalled the scrutiny Pusha T faced from the label that housed him for over a decade since his beef with Drake blew up in 2018. Following his seething diss track “The Story of Adidon," Push's verses on other songs like Rick Ross’ “Maybach Music VI” and Pop Smoke’s “Paranoia" were cut after the label tried to force the 48-year-old MC to switch up his bars. Def Jam allegedly tried to use the same tactic after they heard Clipse's upcoming song with Lamar, "Chains & Whips."
"I don’t know what their concern is. But they were like, 'There’s a line here; we think it’s controversial; [Kendrick] needs to change it, or we’re not putting it out,'" Victor said. "We’re not going to ask him to change the verse. You guys are wrong. Stop looking at this this way. None of this makes any sense."
Def Jam's loss was Roc Nation's gain. Victor revealed how he was able to get JAY-Z on the phone shortly after negotiating an exit strategy with Def Jam. After he explained the situation, Victor said he and Hov were able to hammer out a deal with his record label within 24 hours.
"He hit me back right away, like, 'You just made my day. Let’s figure it out. What do we need to get it done?'" Victor explained. "I went back to Pusha, and said, 'Listen, Jay’s gonna give us a very artist-friendly deal, we get to own the masters, and they’ll put the marketing power of Roc Nation behind it. You guys are friends. It’s a great outcome.' We worked out the deal in less than 24 hours."
The deal worked out for all parties involved. Pusha T currently owns the records he released independently via Mass Appeal and G.O.O.D. Music (Despite their differences, Pusha recently thanked Ye for giving him his masters back for music he released through his previous deal). Now, Push and Malice will own the masters for their upcoming album Let God Sort Em Out, which drops via Roc Nation Distribution on July 11.