The announcement follows Belly’s decision to give out shirts with the word IMMIGRANT printed on them at New York’s Family Separation Rally & March at Foley Square in July. The protest was organized to stop the separation of families at the United States-Mexican border. “As an immigrant myself I feel as though IMMIGRATION is a topic that NEEDS my support & yours as well with so much happening,” he said at the time. “It’s our job as public figures and more importantly as HUMANS to bring attention to these causes. With your help we can create a platform and bring awareness to help immigrants thrive and know they can succeed too.”
Early in his life, Belly immigrated from Jenin in the Palestinian West Bank to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where he was raised.
Though he has released many mixtapes in the interim, IMMIGRANT will be Belly’s first studio album since 2007’s The Revolution. It is due out October 12th.
In May, he released the single “What You Want” alongside his regular XO collaborator The Weeknd.