{"id":4198,"date":"2026-03-12T17:34:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/the-cool-kids-chuck-inglish-rips-def-jam-signing-liangleo-ball-gelo-for-8-million\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T17:34:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T17:34:34","slug":"the-cool-kids-chuck-inglish-rips-def-jam-signing-liangleo-ball-gelo-for-8-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/the-cool-kids-chuck-inglish-rips-def-jam-signing-liangleo-ball-gelo-for-8-million\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cool Kids\u2019 Chuck Inglish Rips Def Jam Signing LiAngleo Ball (Gelo) For $8 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Rapper and producer Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids stirred conversation on X on March 11, criticizing Def Jam Recordings over its recent signing of basketball player-turned-rapper LiAngelo Ball, now known as the rap star Gelo. In 2025, the legendary record label secured Gelo in an $8 million deal, sparking reactions from the hip-hop community.<\/p>\n<p>Inglish responded to a fan\u2019s answer after retweeting a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DatPiff\/status\/2031558227364634841\">post from DatPiff<\/a> asking fans to name artists they expected to \u201cblow up\u201d but whose careers stalled. Alongside the X user\u2019s answer, a video clip of Gelo performing at Rolling Loud circulated online, fueling discussion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey swore to God up above that this man was taking over,\u201d the X user\u2019s tweet reads with video of Gelo. \u201cI remember. Side note: take that Slauson hat off.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Def Jam dropped Vanilla is Black and Navy Blue for this.   <\/p>\n<p>Gave that nigga 8 mill guaranteed too <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NbjqrOdvQH\">https:\/\/t.co\/NbjqrOdvQH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CHUCK INGLISH said it. (@Chuckisdope) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chuckisdope\/status\/2031895558374269325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 12, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cDef Jam dropped Vanilla is Black and Navy Blue for this,\u201d Inglish wrote. \u201cGave that n***a 8 mill guaranteed too.\u201d The tweet referenced former Vanilla Is Black and Navy Blue, suggesting that the label\u2019s focus on Ball may have impacted the support for these acts.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-cool-kids-chuck-inglish-says-def-jam-recordings-released-vanilla-is-black-amp-navy-blue-to-sign-liangelo-ball-gelo\">The Cool Kids\u2019 Chuck Inglish Says Def Jam Recordings Released Vanilla Is Black &#038; Navy Blue To Sign LiAngelo Ball (Gelo) <\/h2>\n<p>The post reflects ongoing frustration in hip-hop about major labels prioritizing celebrity or viral appeal over artists who built credibility. Gelo signed with Def Jam following the popularity of his debut single \u201cTweaker.\u201d LiAngelo Ball is part of the Ball family, including NBA stars Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball.<\/p>\n<p>Fans and critics alike debated the move. \u201cThey absolutely did not give him 8 million,\u201d tweets an X user, while Chuck Inglish responded, \u201cHow u gon tell me. ??\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another X user criticized Def Jam, tweeting, \u201cI was up there that year trying to get a deal from them they told me I wasn\u2019t worth it after 5 months and then signed this n***a my soul broke in half.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others believe Def Jam Recordings has already made its money back from the Gelo investment. An X user tweets, \u201cThey probably made that money back just on sync placements. Tweaker was getting spammed everywhere for months.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"3.12.26 Headlines, The Mind of Mero &#038; Juvenile Hangs Out with the Crew\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dezaXCfDUHE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Other rappers released by Def Jam Recordings would be mentioned alongside Vanilla Is Black and Navy Blue. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe that they had Maxo on their label &#038; he didn\u2019t get nowhere the push that this got,\u201d an X user comments on Chuck\u2019s post. <\/p>\n<p>Inglish\u2019s remarks highlight a broader tension in the industry. LiAgnelo Ball released his debut album, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hot97.com\/interviews\/gelo-gets-honest-who-wins-at-bball-him-lonzo-or-melo\/\">League of My Own<\/a><\/em>, under Def Jam Recordings in late 2025. He recently released a new single, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hot97.com\/new-hip-hop-music\/cash-cobain-yakiyn-channel-tres-wiz-khalifa-gelo-swae-lee-more-new-music-you-might-have-missed-this-week\/\">Backyard Ball<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Neither Gelo nor Def Jam Recordings has publicly commented on Inglish\u2019s tweet. The debate underscores persistent questions about how hip-hop labels allocate resources and shape careers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rapper and producer Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids stirred conversation on X on March 11, criticizing Def Jam Recordings&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":4265,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-4198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}