Warner Bros. Records is muscling into the R&B arena, forging new production/imprint deals with LL Cool J, Somethin' For The People (SFTP), Flavor Unit co-owner/producer Shakim Compere, and producer Manuel Seal Jr. The deals are nonexclusive, but give Warner Bros. the first right on any acts picked up by the urban music imprints' principals.
LL Cool J's label, Rock The Bells, features R&B male quartet AMyth, rapper Smokeman, and an unnamed pair of female singers. LL Cool J, meanwhile, starts recording a Def Jam album this month and will appear in three films this year, including Warner Bros.' "Deep Blue Sea," which will feature the rapper on its soundtrack.
The SFTP imprint is named for the Warner Bros. trio, which is working on an album due this summer. The label is developing a female SFTP spinoff called Somethin' Sexy.
Compere's imprint, GhettoWorks, is a division of Flavor Unit Entertainment, which the producer owns with actress/artist Queen Latifah. Acts include rapper Rowdy Rahz, male vocal group Merge, female vocal group F.A.T.E., and songwriter/rock artist Janice Robinson. The imprint's first project will likely be a compilation with a new song by Queen Latifah, who remains signed to Flavor Unit. Her talk show will debut in the fall through Flavor Unit Television.
Acts on Seal's Rain Records imprint include vocalist Lakeisha Wright and male quartet Touch.
For details, see the June 12 issue of Billboard.
LL Cool J's label, Rock The Bells, features R&B male quartet AMyth, rapper Smokeman, and an unnamed pair of female singers. LL Cool J, meanwhile, starts recording a Def Jam album this month and will appear in three films this year, including Warner Bros.' "Deep Blue Sea," which will feature the rapper on its soundtrack.
The SFTP imprint is named for the Warner Bros. trio, which is working on an album due this summer. The label is developing a female SFTP spinoff called Somethin' Sexy.
Compere's imprint, GhettoWorks, is a division of Flavor Unit Entertainment, which the producer owns with actress/artist Queen Latifah. Acts include rapper Rowdy Rahz, male vocal group Merge, female vocal group F.A.T.E., and songwriter/rock artist Janice Robinson. The imprint's first project will likely be a compilation with a new song by Queen Latifah, who remains signed to Flavor Unit. Her talk show will debut in the fall through Flavor Unit Television.
Acts on Seal's Rain Records imprint include vocalist Lakeisha Wright and male quartet Touch.
For details, see the June 12 issue of Billboard.
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