Finally Rich indeed. It was no secret that Chief Keef’s recording contract with Interscope put the Chicago rapper into a new tax bracket, but newly revealed court documents show that the 17-year-old star could potentially become a millionaire six times over.
Keef not only signed a solo three-album deal, he was also able to leverage a partnership with Interscope for his own Glory Boyz Entertainment label. Because Keef is a minor, court approval is required for the agreements to be finalized; DNAInfo.com came upon the now public documents.
In June 2012, Keef announced exclusively with MTV News that he had signed with Jimmy Iovine’s powerhouse label. According to the report, the two deals can bring Keef more than $6 million in earnings if certain sales goals are met — and that’s not counting the income he could potentially earn from future royalties. Interscope agreed to pay Chief a $440,000 advance; half of the sum was paid up front and the other half will be paid after a judge approves the advance. Court papers state that the advance is to be placed in a trust fund controlled by the rapper’s grandmother and then made accessible to Keef when he turns 18.
The rapper received an additional $300,000 to cover the costs of recording his debut album, Finally Rich, which was released in December and features appearances by 50 Cent, Rick Ross, Young Jeezy and Wiz Khalifa. If the “I Don’t Like” rapper doesn’t sell at least 250,000 copies by December 2013, Interscope can pull the plug on the deal. Finally Rich sold approximately 50,000 copies in its first week of release and has since moved about 100,000 more.
The label deal for GBE is a separate three-year agreement in which Interscope handed Keef and his team another $440,000 in the form of an advance, plus an additional $200,000 for overhead expenses and operation costs. Interscope can terminate that deal if GBE tallies losses exceeding $4.5 million.
It’s been an eventful week for Keef, who was sentenced to 60 days in juvenile detention for a probation violation. If that weren’t enough, on Monday TMZ reported that the youngster is being sued for child support by his daughter’s mother, a middle-school student he impregnated two years ago. MTV & AlLindstrom