March 14, 2026
The Cool Kids’ Chuck Inglish Calls Out Def Jam For Reportedly Dropping Two Acts To Bet $8M On LiAngelo Ball
"Def Jam dropped Vanilla is Black and Navy Blue for this," Inglish tweeted.
Former college hooper LiAngelo Ball was signed by Def Jam after releasing a viral single, “Tweaker,” under his stage name Gelo. But Chuck Inglish of The Cool Kids, blasted the record label for dropping two other acts to focus on Ball.
Inglish responded to an X user complaining that Gelo was given millions to sign with the label, yet wasn’t making the type of impact expected by hip-hop fans after hearing about his reported $13 million deal ($8 million reportedly guaranteed).
The user, J Michelle Michelle, wrote in her post: “They swore to God up above that this man was taking over. I remember” in response to a Datpiff post that asked followers to “Name an artist you swore was next up… then their career just flatlined…”
Ball has released another track, but it hasn’t matched the success of his breakout single, which first drew widespread attention and pulled him away from his brothers, Lonzo Ball and LaMelo Ball, who currently play in the NBA.
Inglish cosigned her post and added that the label dropped two acts, Vanilla is Black and Navy Blue, and reconfirmed that Def Jam gave Gelo a guaranteed $8 million.
Gelo was expected to play in the NBA like his brothers. Instead, he inked a deal with Def Jam, which gave him full ownership of his music.
After playing at UCLA, Gelo entered the 2018 NBA Draft. Unlike his brothers, he was not selected by any NBA team but dig sign training camp deals with the Detroit Pistons (2020) and the Hornets (2021 and 2022). He didn’t make the regular season rosters.
Ball did play in the NBA G League for the Greensboro Swarm, averaging 4.4 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 13.1 minutes in 31 games from 2021 to 2023.
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