Joell Ortiz Still A Free Agent Despite Tweets, Manager Says

Joell Ortiz hasn't found a new label home just yet, despite rumblings that hinted otherwise surfaced. Earlier this morning (August 30), Steve Rifkind, founder of SRC Records, tweeted at Joell, “great read hope to have this deal done soon”—implying that the two would soon be working together. However, XXLMag.com has learned that nothing has been finalized.

“We’ve just been talking to people, and Steve has been a good friend and a huge supporter of Joell from the very beginning,” explained Ortiz’s manager, Mike Heron. “It’s very informal with Steve. We’ve been talking to him, [but] when we talk to Steve it’s not as if [we’re] talking to a record label head, it’s more like talking to a friend—so we kick ideas around. It’s never been anything on paper or anything like that; it’s very, very informal with Steve. We’re having conversations with people. If I told you who we’ve talked to about possibly doing a deal with Joell, you’d be shocked.”

Heron also cleared up rumors that Ortiz’s label obligations are holding up a deal that would bring Slaughterhouse to Shady Records. “There’s a lot of rumors going around about how we’re jammed up, or we’re jamming up the Slaughterhouse deal,” he continued. “I think [this story] helps clear that up, as well. Joell is 100% free to sign with Slaughterhouse at Shady. We are 100% free to do whatever we want as far as Slaughterhouse is concerned.”

Stay tuned to XXLMag.com for more details on Joell's label situation and the release of his long awaited Free Agent. —Adam Fleischer