Hit-Boy has proven himself to be one of the most versatile producers in the game. He's worked with a laundry list of legends, and scored major crossover hits. If it wasn't for Jay-Z, though, Hit-Boy would have been significantly less successful. Not from a chart perspective, but a monetary one. The producer recently appeared on an episode of The Shop, and he detailed the ways in which the Roc Nation founder saved his career.
Hit-Boy, like most artists starting out, failed to recognize the poor quality of his first contract. He was merely happy to be signed. The more he learned, however, the more clear it became that he was in a bad publishing situation. "I’m actually still in my publishing situation," he told the hosts. "I signed when I was 19 years old and I’m 37, so I’ve been in the deal a long time with Universal Publishing. Hit-Boy described the terms of the contract as "ancient." The worst part was that the producer did not have a clear end date for his contract. He could have easily been held to these initial terms for the rest of his life.
Roc Nation Renegotiated Hit-Boy's Original Contract
Then Roc Nation stepped in. Hit-Boy credited Jay-Z and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez with helping to straighten out his publishing. "[They] really got me to a place I’m in now, where I have an end date," he admitted. "But before, my whole career I was working without having a[n] actual end date to— the way we really get our money is through publishing." These changes appear to be recent, based on the sense of relief Hit-Boy displayed during the interview.
"That’s going to be, like, life changing for me," the producer explained. "Just to even have freedom as a grown man." He also noted that his contract kept him from securing huge advances, the way that some of his producing peers have. "I haven’t been able to go do other deals or go get advances in different places like my counterparts have," he lamented. "I eat very well, but I know what it’s really supposed to be." Fortunately, Hit-Boy appears to be on the right track to achieving what it's supposed to be.