Joell Ortiz has officially left Aftermath Entertainment

After months of speculation the rapper finally confirmed the rumours about his label status during an interview with Miss Info on Hot 97.

"This is old to me. Me talking about it now feels funny, because this is old. It’s just new to everybody else because somebody spoke on something that they didn’t know about," Joell Ortiz told Miss Info.

Ortiz said he had planned to break the news with a video for the street banger "Ups & Downs," but had to change his plans after former label mate Bishop Lamont leaked the news in a separate interview.

"It was just someone speaking about a situation they know nothing about. Me and Dr. Dre deal the way me and Dr. Dre deal," Joell said. "It’s all good, he just didn’t know what he was talking about."

"I’m not currently on that label," Ortiz added. "I can’t afford to wait. That would be the most selfish thing for me to do — to sit there and wait for someone else to call my life. I got a million people depending on me to come out. People wanna hear Joell Ortiz. I would of been cheating myself to sit there and wait. I have momentum now. I gotta move with the cheese. I don’t know when my window of opportunity is gonna open again. I gotta take advantage of it now."

Joell blamed the label’s focus on Dr. Dre’s "Detox" album and Eminem’s upcoming project for taking attention away from dropping his solo debut, although he did reveal he is still on good terms with the good doctor who will be offering beats for Ortiz’s next album.

"As of right now, I’m still doing business with Dr. Dre and stuff like that," added Ortiz. "... I got money in my bank account. I’m working with Dr. Dre. I’m a free agent with a mixtape that’s about to come out... that’s ridiculous. You wouldn’t believe who’s calling me. I got a bidding war going on without trying to create one. I’m feeling good," he exclaimed.

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