NO KIDDING: UMG AND ALEX DA KID INK DEAL

Now it's official: Sir Lucian Grainge's UMG has inked a "multi-faceted" deal with producer/exec Alex Da Kid and his KIDinaKORNER. In addition to overseeing the careers of Imagine Dragons and X Ambassadors, he has produced smash singles for Eminem, U2, Rihanna, Dr. Dre and Nicki Minaj, among others. The deal will enable Alex to leverage Universal labels in developing projects as artist, producer and entrepreneur.

The man's work has driven sales of 100m+, 11 billion YouTube views and two diamond-certified singles. Among his key credits are Eminem's Love the Way You Life f/Rihanna, "I Need a Doctor" from Dr. Dre f/Eminem and Skylar Grey, Em's Grammy-winning Recovery, Rihanna's Loud and Imagine Dragons' Night Visions.

"UMG has become the premiere destination where innovative entrepreneurs are free to experiment, take thoughtful risks and expand the traditional role of a music company," declared Grainge. "Alex's track record of success and innovation make him the ideal partner to pursue the many exciting opportunities in music today."

"Working together with Lucian, Boyd Muir and the great team at UMG, I'm truly proud of the unique and innovative deal we were able to construct. Our mission at KIDinaKORNER is to pioneer and evolve the traditional music and marketing business models," said Alex. "After speaking with many people about my vision for the future of the music business, I felt that Lucian and the UMG team understood it on a fundamental level and I'm truly excited about everything we will be doing together moving forward."

Under the terms of the deal, Grainge will now also be known as Lucian Da Knight.