Joell Ortiz Officially Signs with Aftermath Entertainment

Brooklyn MC Joell Ortiz has officially signed a deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment. While rumors of a signing with the label had circulated for weeks, sources close to the rapper have confirmed to XXLMAG.COM that it became official last Thursday (August 31) when the deal was finalized. In 2003 Ortiz won the EA Sports Livestyle MC battle and landed a spot on the NBA Live 2005 soundtrack as well as a record deal with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def. The So So Def deal eventually fell through, but Ortiz continued to make music and enjoyed a strong buzz on the strength of mixtape and radio appearances in his hometown of New York. The rapper expects to drop his debut LP with Aftermath sometime in late 2007. In the meantime, he will be dropping a mixtape/street album called The Brick on Koch Records later on this year.