Warner Chappell Music, the global publishing arm of Warner Music Group, has extended its worldwide publishing agreement with Grammy and Academy Award-nominated songwriter, rapper and record producer Belly. As part of the deal, the company acquired 50 percent of Belly’s songwriting catalog, including “Earned It” and “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd – the latter of which became the biggest song of 2020, hitting No. 1 in 34 countries and breaking the record for the most weeks spent in the top 5 and top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Last month, Belly released his newest single “Money On The Table” featuring Benny The Butcher, from his forthcoming album, See You Next Wednesday, which is slated for release this summer via ROC Nation / XO Records.

Warner Chappell Music Co-Chair and CEO, Guy Moot, and Co-Chair and COO, Carianne Marshall, said: “Belly’s become one of the most impactful and versatile songwriters and artists of our time. He’s accomplished so much over the past two decades, from building up an impressive solo career to working with The Weeknd as one of his top collaborators. We’re excited to continue our partnership with him alongside Sal and the whole team at XO.”

Warner Chappell Music President of A&R, U.S., Ryan Press, shared: “Belly has some of the best songwriting instincts in the game, and we couldn’t be prouder to be on this journey with him. Along with his natural gift for writing songs, he’s an amazing rapper and has spent the last few years crafting his best body of work yet as an artist. We’re looking forward to what’s next and the highly anticipated release of his new album.

Belly added: “Warner Chappell was my first home, a place I was able to build lasting relationships and build myself into the writer I am today. I’m excited to continue this partnership and make more history together.”

Born Ahmad Balshe, Belly is an award winning, Oscar-nominated singer, songwriter, rapper and producer who has accumulated over seven billion streams and counting across his catalog. Palestinian and Canadian-raised, he made his start releasing a string of underground mixtapes, leading to his first full-length album debut, The Revolution, which immediately went gold in Canada and solidified him as a national phenomenon. After penning “Love Me Harder” for Ariana Grande and The Weeknd in 2014, he co-wrote six tracks from the chart-dominating 4x-platinum album Beauty Behind The Madness, including "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey),” which received an Academy® Award nod for "Best Original Song.” Together, The Weeknd and he went on to craft "6-Inch" for Beyoncé's Lemonade. Jay-Z signed Belly to Roc Nation in 2015, where he unveiled Up For Days, including the RIAA platinum-certified hit, “Might Not” (ft. The Weeknd), which went No. 1 at Rhythmic Radio. After several successful collaborations on breakthrough tracks like “Double Up” alongside the late Nipsey Hussle and “No Limit Remix” with G-Eazy, A$AP Rocky, French Montana and Juicy J, in addition to producing his own four critically acclaimed bodies of work under Roc Nation/XO – Belly is now gearing up for his second LP, See You Next Wednesday. His ethereal contributions as a songwriter to half of The Weeknd's 2020 album, After Hours, including on the smash hit “Blinding Lights,” was the precursor to this star-studded new Belly project. The emcee's leading singles, “IYKYK” and “Money On The Table,” featuring Benny The Butcher are building momentum for Belly's long-awaited master piece of work.