Wiz Khalifa is proving he’s not just a hit-maker. He’s also a deal-maker.
It has been widely reported that the “Black and Yellow” rapper recently signed 25 collegiate athletes to NIL (name, image, and likeness) deals under his Taylor Gang Entertainment label.
On3 reported that, Taylor Gang Entertainment has enlisted the help of athletes to promote his song “45 Minute Beatdown” featuring Lil Uzi Vert. The agreement, which was brokered by the A&P Agency, required each of the athlete to post a clip of themselves dancing while the song played on their Instagram Stories. For the action, the athletes were reportedly compensated an undisclosed amount. This is the one of earliest adoptions of a record label NIL deal, which enables college athletes to profit from their image and influence through endorsement deals.
“Right now in the music industry, there is no better marketing tool to communicate to the college demographic effectively except for our athletes that have a vast following consisting of students and alumni which we have developed over our course of our relationship with our athletes,” A& P Agency rep Stefan Aguilera said in an interview with Yahoo Finance.
He continued, “A&P Agency is the optimal choice for the music industry, not just because we represent the best athletes, but because nobody understands the college market better than us speaking in terms of creative marketing.”
This marks another high profile NIL deal as they continue to rise in popularity across various industries. As ESSENCE previously reported that global sportswear brand Actively Black recently announced a new collective of an NIL deal with Jackson State University football stars Travis Hunter, and Shilo and Shedeur Sanders. The athletes will be featured in a rollout that, according to a news release shared with ESSENCE amplifies Black style and culture, and caters to Black communities, consumers and athletes around the world.
