Rapper DMX died last Friday but a lot of things related to his music and death have been in circulation from the day he got admitted to the hospital. And even after his death a lot is being written about is cause of his death, his net worth and his many children. One claim that started doing the round on social media following DMX's death is that musician couple Jay-Z and Beyonce has purchased the rapper's original song recordings, known as "masters," for a whopping $10 million in order to give all proceeds to his 17 children.
Since then the claim has gone viral on social media and a section is happy that Beyonce and Jay-Z have done a philanthropic activity to help the rapper's children. However, many are still trying to ascertain the truth behind the claim and have been asking questions if Beyonce and Jay-Z have really bought the entre song recordings of DMX.
Death Raises Fresh Claim
Hours after DMX's death was made official on Friday, many users started speculating about the circumstances under which the 50-year-old rapper died and what now happens to his estate. Some immediately took to social media with their questions. One claim that started doing the rounds was the music power couple Jay-Z and Beyonce has come forward and have decided to buy DMX's entire collection of original recordings for $10 million with the intention of giving all proceeds to his "17 kids for free."
The claim soon went viral, with many lauding Beyonce and Jay-Z for their philanthropic step. A lot of speculation was being made that the future of the 17 children of DMX is at risk following his death but the news came as a sigh of relief. However, many were also unsure if Beyonce and Jay-Z actually bought the entire collection as everything happened too fast.
What's the Truth?
The first claim was made on Twitter by Phenomenal Reporters, an unverified account. The account also has a Facebook page, which describes itself as "a current affairs newspaper" that "reports without fear or favor." The Facebook page is registered to Delta State Warri in Nigeria. Although the page shows an email and phone number, there is no official website connected to the social media accounts.
Sometime later, more claims started appearing on Twitter. Most of the tweets claimed that the big money will be donated to DMX's "17 kids so they can have money." However, none of the tweets gave a clear picture of how that money will be raised and if that would come from future profits of sales associated with that music or some other source. More questions were raised on whether the profits from the sale of DMX's music would be shared with his children.
Moreover, none of the tweets linked the claims to any prominent news sources, nor did the posters name their sources. Morever, no public announcements from Jay-Z or Beyonce regarding any pending sales or future plans to acquire DMX's masters were made.
The entire confusion started from the first tweet made by Phenomenal Reporters. "We believe in fairness and professionalism. We do not encourage or share hate speech, racism, tribalism, false news and adult content," the page description reads.
However, most of the content published and shared by Phenomenal Reporters uses emotionally stirring language to lure more people into believing them, while it never link to credible news sources. Hence the entire claim appears to be false.
A "master" is a term used to describe the original sound recording and copyright of a song. When an artist records a song, they are also creating an original sound that is protected under US copyright law, leaving the owner with the right to do what they want with the work, such as grant third-party licenses, according to the U.S. Copyright Office.
DMX died on April 9, and a search of the copyright public records as of April 11 show that DMX's most well-known records were not registered to either Jay-Z or Beyonce. In fact, the rapper's first released 1998 album, It's Dark and Hell is Hot, was registered on May 5, 1998, to Rush Associated Labels Records and published by the record label Def Jam Music Group (314 558 227-2), which is owned by Universal Music Group. Hence the claim once again proves to be false.
