XXXTentacion was reportedly getting all of his ducks in a row prior to his untimely death in June 2018. According to The New York Times’ new report, the late rapper had signed a $10 million album deal with Empire, an independent music company.
Empire previously debuted XXX’s debut album, 17, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. In light of his previous success, the company reportedly offered to debut his third studio album.
Empire’s founder, Ghazi Shami, declined to comment on the reported deal to NYT, but confirmed that the rapper had finished a “significant amount of material” for the forthcoming project before his death. While it’s unclear how many tracks will be featured on the album or whether there will be any significant features, sources say the posthumous album is slated to drop sometime in Oct. 2018. The potential fall premiere date is partly due to a clause in XXXTentacion’s last record contract with Universal Music Group, according to the Times.
While new music is still in the works, X’s fans have been playing his old tunes on repeat for the past couple of weeks. As a result, the rapper scored a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for his song “SAD!” – the first posthumous No. 1 knockout for a lead soloist since 1997, when Notorious B.I.G.’s “Mo Money Mo Problems” topped the charts.
READ MORE: XXXTentacion Attends His Own Funeral In Haunting “SAD!” Music Video