Following multiple public appeals imploring Epic Records to release him from his contract, Bobby Shmurda is officially a free agent, Billboard has confirmed with a source close to the situation. The rapper boasted of his release from Epic via Instagram Stories on Thursday in a post first reported by Hip Hop DX.
Shmurda was signed to Epic in a rumored $2 million deal by then-chairman and CEO L.A. Reid in 2014 on the heels of his hit track “Hot N—a,” which landed at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 after a six-second clip of the song went viral on the now-defunct Vine platform.
But on Dec. 17 that year, Shmurda — along with 14 other members of the East Flatbush-based gang GS9 — was arrested on charges of conspiracy, reckless endangerment and gun possession related to his possible involvement in shootings and narcotics trafficking. After being denied bail multiple times, and following several delays of his criminal trial, in Sept. 2016 the rapper accepted a plea deal in which he agreed to serve seven years in prison. He was released from New York’s Clinton Correctional Facility on parole on Feb. 23, 2021 after serving a total of six years behind bars.
Shmurda’s public attempts to break his Epic contract began last December, when the rapper wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, “I ain’t been in charge of my music since I was 19 years old and I just turned 27 and honestly idk when s— dropping. So don’t ask me s— go ask them mf’s since they wanna control everything!!!!!!!”
In another now-deleted Instagram post in February, Shmurda appeared to call out Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone, writing, “I got a 70 year old lady running my label and I love her dearly but doesn’t want to let me go at alllllllll. No matter what I do I’ve been sign to them since I was 19. I did six years in jail trying to get off this label before I came home, you name one person in the industry a lable [sic] keeps sign in jail for six years???? Yeah IK IK I made them more millions than they ever gave me!!! Just let me gooo.”
Since his release from prison, Shmurda has released a string of singles, including “Cartier Lens,” “Splash” and “Shmoney” feat. Quavo and Rowdy Rebel.
Epic Records did not immediately respond to Billboard’s request for comment.
