Dallas hip-hop artist Bobby Sessions announced today that he has signed with Def Jam. The announcement comes almost three years to the day since Sessions quit his day job to pursue music full time. In a 2015 interview with the Observer, Sessions said that he only had $50 in his bank account when he quit and had been sleeping in his car.
"We built everything from the ground up. I'm extremely proud of our team," Sessions wrote in a Facebook post this morning. "The support from our fans, friends, and family has been priceless. We're excited to have signed with the greatest rap label of all-time."
The news that Sessions has joined Def Jam comes at an exciting time for the New York-based label, which represents Kanye West and Ludacris, among many others. On Jan. 1, Shady Records founder Paul Rosenburg became Def Jam's new CEO and president. Rosenburg is the one who green-lit the deal with Sessions through his current label, Dallas' High Standardz."We built everything from the ground up. I'm extremely proud of our team." — Bobby Sessions
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Sessions began his rap career in Dallas with the Brain Gang. Three years ago, just before the release of his debut album, LOA, the Observer spoke with Sessions. He described how the law of attraction — for which that album was named — inspired him to take risks in his career.
“Basically, what you think, you become,” Sessions said. “Every time you have a thought, that thought omits a frequency, and thus it has to get a return on investment. So if I’m thinking positive things all the time, I have to attract positive opportunities, situations and people in my direction.”
In the same interview, Sessions recounted how at one point he'd visualized the negative $140 in his bank account becoming $14 million.
“All I got is this good-ass music, and I trust this music,” Sessions said. “I trust that I’m going to meet the right people. To be at this point right now and see these things manifesting in front of me, it blows my mind. I need that $14 million.”
Sessions' accomplishments in the last few years suggest he may get it. Last year, he released a second album, Grateful, which earned him two Dallas Observer Music Awards, for best rap/hip-hop act and best song ("Dollars & Sense"). Just a few months later, he's keeping the company of Kanye West.