Rap Genius Cuts Universal Publishing Group Deal: “We’ll lend them a wheelbarrow…”

It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride for RapGenius. After quickly becoming a hot site and a VC darling, a majorr muysic publishing trade group put them at the top of a blacklist list, then backed off a bit. Next Google cut then restored their search engine rankings.  But this week RapGenius has something to celebrate: a new deal with Universal Music Publishing, one of the world's largest musci publishers.

On the site the, Rap Genius founder Ilan Zechory wrote: 

"We love UMPG! They have a truly incredible stable of writers – we will lend them a wheelbarrow for the Grammys they are about to win! Rap Genius lets UMPG's writers connect with their most obsessed fans, and we couldn't be more excited about solidifying this partnership."

This is RapGenius' second major publishing deal, following a Sony/ATV partnership in November.