Logic Recalls Turning Down $1.5 Million Label Deal Early in His Career ‘Like It Was Nothing’

For the latest episode of NPR's 'How I Built This With Guy Raz,' Logic and his manager Chris Zarou stopped by with some stories.

March 11, 2019

For the latest installment of NPR's How I Built This With Guy Raz, Logic and his manager Chris Zarou stopped by. In the hour-long episode, the pair spoke about how they met and why they decided to go into business together. Logic revealed why he turned down a $1.5 million record deal before he signed to Def Jam, while Zarou told an amusing story about his earliest interaction with the same label.

"At almost every record label I applied for internships," Zarou said of his early days working with Logic at the 19:40 point of the episode. "I actually got one interview...and I thought it went great and ultimately they said, 'Sorry this isn't gonna work.'" He evidently "didn't have enough experience."

Laughing off the idea, he quipped, "I actually printed [the email] out recently and I'm getting it framed for the office. ... It was Def Jam, which is ultimately where Logic signed to probably a little over a year after that."

At the 31-minute mark, Logic and Zarou talked about looking for the perfect label back when they were still living on couches. "We were still shopping ourselves, we wanted a deal," Logic explained. "There was even independent companies that put a contract for $1.5 million dollars in our hands. ... We turned it down like it was nothing."

Zarou and Logic said at the 35-minute point that they ultimately signed with Def Jam to fund their tour after No. I.D. came to them both. "It was very difficult looking at a check and seeing lower six-figures," Logic said of the deal he took with Def Jam for his first record. He ultimately had to put most of the check into the tour after everyone else got their cuts.

Logic also explained that Def Jam initially didn't believe in him, stating at the 51-minute point that they undershipped his album Under Pressure.