Sources: LiAngelo Ball signs music deal with Def Jam worth $13M
LiAngelo Ball has signed a deal with Def Jam and Universal Music Group, a representative from his label Born2Ball Music Group says.
Sources told ESPN the deal is worth as much as $13 million, with $8 million guaranteed, and gives Ball full ownership of music and his own record label. Ball has a second song to follow the debut of “Tweaker” in the near future as well.
Ball, the middle brother of Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball and Charlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball, went unselected in the 2018 NBA draft. He signed training camp deals in 2020 (Detroit Pistons), 2021 (Hornets) and 2022 (Hornets) but never made a regular-season roster. He averaged 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 13.1 minutes in 31 NBA G League games for the Greensboro Swarm from 2021-23.
But he has since refocused his career path to being an artist and musician. The song is described as having a mid-early 2000s rap and modern hip-hop feel and was released Jan. 3 on the WorldstarHipHop YouTube page and has earned nearly 8 millions views as of Jan. 13.
The Ball family isn’t new to rap. Lonzo has already released a few songs, including “Zo2,” which was used to promote his Big Baller Brand signature shoe. LiAngelo’s track, though, is getting a lot more attention, with Lonzo already proclaiming 2025 the “year of G[elo].”
Aside from the brotherly love, the song is drawing big-time attention from some pretty famous rappers as well. According to Chart Data, the song entered the top-10 streaming chart for the U.S. on Spotify on Jan. 8. As of Thursday, the song sat at No. 4 — bypassing Tyler, the Creator’s “Sticky” featuring GloRilla, Sexyy Red and Lil Wayne, and Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” featuring Lefty Gunplay — with 1,398,725 plays, according to Spotify.
Source: espn.com