Marsha Ambrosius, the singer/songwriter half of the duo Floetry, has signed a solo deal with Dr. Dre and his Aftermath imprint. Ambrosius says she jumped at the chance to work with Dre, who has limited himself to a handful of projects in recent years. "Who wouldn't? It's a lifetime opportunity," the artist tells Billboard. "It's not like he offers to do an album with everybody."

The possibility of hooking up with Dr. Dre presented itself toward the end of last year when Floetry was playing two shows at Los Angeles club the Roxy (both Dr. Dre and Prince were in the audience). Ambrosius met Dre later that week, and it wasn't long before he was playing her a beat. Just as quickly, she was recording the hook for the song.

The experience only became more surreal when 50 Cent walked into the room. "He was nodding his head, saying the track is on fire and maybe he'd get on it," recalls Ambrosius. "I'm still kind of in a daze about it. It's all very much a dream. I've always wanted to do a solo album. However, I didn't expect this to come when it did. But I'm ready for it."

Meanwhile, Floetry is preparing to shoot a new video for "Lay Down," the next single from its 2005 album, "Flo'Ology." Ambrosius and her emcee/songwriting partner Natalie Stewart are also celebrating a best urban/alternative performance Grammy nomination for the song "SupaStar" as well as an NAACP Image Award nomination. A U.S. tour will begin in March.