Key Takeaways

• JAY-Z and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez played key roles in helping Hit-Boy exit the restrictive publishing contract.
• The producer compared the experience to being released from prison, calling it a fresh start with hard-earned knowledge.
• Hit-Boy’s original deal, signed as a teenager, reportedly lacked a clear end date and paid only $50,000 upfront.

After nearly two decades locked in a restrictive publishing deal with Universal Music Publishing Group, Hit-Boy is finally free. In a celebratory Instagram post, the Grammy-winning producer thanked JAY-Z for helping him break out of the long-term contract he signed as a teenager.

The multi-hyphenate first reflected on the full circle moments he shared with the “Can’t Knock the Hustle” emcee, dating back to when Hit purchased The Blueprint at just 13 years old. Ten years later, he produced “N**gas in Paris” for JAY-Z and Kanye West’s Watch the Throne album. “I remember getting a text from HOV after the song dropped [and was going crazy]. [He] said, ‘If you get me another ’N**gas in Paris,’ I’ll get you a plane,’ jokingly,” he wrote in the post’s caption, which accompanied a carousel of photographs.

The hitmaker, who boasts tracks on Billboard's Hot 100, 200, and R&B/Hip Hop Songs charts, shared that the mogul ultimately went above and beyond the playful offer of a plane. “He helped secure my freedom from an 18-year publishing deal I was stuck in, and I can’t thank him enough for pushing that [through],” the “Racks in the Middle” co-producer continued. He also shouted out Roc Nation’s support by thanking Desiree Perez, the company's CEO, for her assistance in achieving this feat.

In closing, Hit declared, “Today, I am a free man. I feel like I just got out [of] the [penitentiary] after an 18-year sentence and have a chance to start over with more knowledge than I ever had. My best has yet to be seen. God is great! WHAT’S THE DEAL?!”

Inside Hit-Boy’s $50,000 publishing deal with no end date

Hit-Boy spoke out about that deal he signed as a teenager in a 2024 episode of “The Shop.” He explained, “The way it was set up is just ancient terminology in the contracts.” The West Coast native also disclosed at that time that JAY-Z and Perez had been instrumental in the process of restructuring the agreement, which included formulating an end date. That critical feature was not implemented in the original $50,000 deal.

As a hungry producer without guidance from an experienced professional, he admitted that his first music industry contract seemed like a huge win at the start of his journey. However, reflecting on the publishing agreement as it comes to its conclusion, the hitmaker expressed, “That’s gon’ be life-changing for me… I haven’t been able to go do other deals or go get advances in different places like my counterparts have… I just [want to] really have that peace of mind to just be a grown person able to make my own decisions for the first time in the publishing world.”

If a catalog of records with Usher, Travis Scott, Nipsey Hussle, and Beyoncé was just the first chapter of his career, then Hit-Boy fans are truly in for a treat when he delivers his “best” in the future.