“Panda” Producer Menace Signs Publishing Deal

Desiigner's "Panda" hit No. 1 on the Billboard  Hot 100 chart last week and everyone is involved is reaping the benefits. U.K. producer Menace, who crafted "Panda" in two hours in 2014, inked a publishing deal with Tim Blacksmith's Stellar Songs. The group has worked with mega stars like Billy Joel, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Elton John, Beyonce and more, so they clearly see potential in the 22-year-old beat maker.

“We obtained one of the best co-pub deals in history and we’re happy that Menace is now under the wings of [Stellar Songs] who has a great track record, working with everyone from Neyo to Rihanna to Sam Smith, and more,” Menace’s manager, Daniel “Bird” Desir, told Karen Civil.

Tim Blacksmith adds, “I’m extremely excited and happy to be working with Menace. I think his talent as a producer is going to be born out even further from what he’s already accomplished with 'Panda.' This is just the beginning of his success.”

XXL caught up with Menace for our Spring 2016 issue and the young producer correctly predicted that "Panda" would lead to him getting a deal.

"The track itself had so much energy. I told him this was going to be something big, it’s going to get him signed; it’s going to get me signed. The production and the flow of his lyrics went well together," he said.

While many have called out Desiigner for biting Future's style, Jermaine Dupri took things a step further when he said that Menace's beat sounds exactly like the DJ Spinz and Southside-produced instrumental from Future's "Fuck Up Some Commas."

Taking to Twitter, the So So Def founder wrote, “This Panda beat is the exact same beat as Commas, wow!” After that, he posted a video of him playing each song side-by-side to prove his case.

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