Rod Wave Is Making $14 Million By Making & Selling His Own Merch

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares 1.8K Views
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Rod Wave Making 14 Million Design Selling Own Merch Hip Hop News
Rod Wave performs at a sold-out Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2023. © Piet Levy / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Rod Wave is rolling out a new album and hoping to debunk some of the narratives around his career and artistry.

Rod Wave recently stopped by The Joe Budden Podcast to promote his upcoming album, speak on the perceptions of his music, and address some big career moves. You may have heard about a massive legal battle involving a former tour promoter, and it looks like he wants to assure his independence in even more ways.

The Florida artist revealed that he's making $14 million off of making and selling his own merchandise, which is a staggering feat. In a clip caught by Victor Baez on Twitter, he explained that he previously made $200K off of merch sales before he made this decision.

"You can go buy your own clothes, and pay these folks to print it up, pay these folks to transport it, and we gon' do that" Rod Wave recalled as his uncle's advice. "And I went from 200,000 to 14 million just taking control of my own merch, see what I'm saying? If you can make it in the street, you can make it anywhere. Your brain can work. His brain, the way he organize this, he could've did anything he wanted to."

Rod Wave New Album

"It's just business, bruh, you see what I'm saying?" Rod Wave continued. "It's so many businesses inside of businesses. As an artist, I'm just on the stage rapping and I'm caught up in the rockstar. And all these people have businesses off of me. 'Here you go, 5 million dollars,' okay. Let me get that. Even if they made two million dollars, s**t, they've got five, six, seven of you. Every artist just on the stage bouncing around, in the rockstar, in the moment. It's cool. Man, this is free game right here, man."

We will see what this yields for the "Leavin" rapper and singer in the future. Elsewhere, some of his recent musical moves include a mistakenly scrapped UY SCUTI feature, and hopefully we see that come to life one day.

Still, it's been a tough road for Rod Wave, who faced some unfortunate legal circumstances earlier this year. With this news, hopefully brighter days are ahead with this new anticipated album cycle.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

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