Record labels started calling rapper Lil Donald as soon as his song, “Do Better,” found an audience online.
A trap-music hit released in 2018, “Do Better” has been streamed tens of million of times. But when Lil Donald needed about $150,000 to fund a full marketing campaign for his new music, he had a problem. To get the money from record labels, he would have to cede ownership of his work on terms he might regret.