Jay-Z has been on the hunt to find some new blood for Def Jam and Roc-A-Fella records and the President/Ceo thinks he has struck gold…and hopefully platinum.
Three new, young faces are set to hit the streets with albums within the next year. The first is 17-year-old singer Rihanna. The singer, who’s hit Pon De Replay is making a few rounds as we speak, was reportedly signed by Hov within a matter of hours after her audition.
“We signed her that night — three in the morning was when that contract got signed,” recalled Jay to MTV, who was given Rihanna‘s demo by his A&R man, Jay Brown. “We wouldn’t let her leave the office. From meeting her at four [p.m.] in the office till three in the morning, I was absolutely certain. That doesn’t happen too often. To get lawyers to draft up a contract and the other side to agree to a contract in [a matter of] hours is retarded.“
Her album Music of the Sun drops on August 30th.
AD LOADING...
Next up is another 17-year-old by the name of Teairra Mari who’s single “Make Her Feel Good” is already getting radio and video love. The Detroit singer has been featured on the cover of the latest edition of XXL and has been dubbed the Princess of the Roc. The singer’s album, Roc-A-Fella Records Presents Teiarra Mari features the likes of Track Boys and Kwame’ behind the boards.
The last piece of the Hova puzzle is Las Vegas very own Shaffer C. Smith, better known as Ne-Yo. The singer is no new jack to the R&B game and has penned songs for the likes of B2K, Musiq, Faith Evans and most recently, his biggest single yet “Let Me Love You” for Mario. The 22-year-old has been placed in Def Jam and his album In My Own Words is due in the fall.
