Bajan buzz

WITH SHEER God-given talent, local artistes Rihanna, Shontelle and Hal Linton are helping to build an American music label “empire” and enhance the international music industry in a major way.

This is the word from producer, writer and label owner Evan Rogers, who admitted that while he had paved the way for the three young stars, they were in turn making his label, Syndicated Rhythm Production (SRP) Records, a major force in the industry.

An example of the prestige which the three Barbadians have brought to SRP has been a recently inked deal via SRP involving the 24-year-old Linton, who was personally signed by Universal Motown chief executive officer Sylvia Rhone.

“SRP has done previous joint ventures with Island Def Jam but this is a fully funded label deal,” Rogers explained in a telephone interview from New York. “And Hal is the first signing to that label.

“We’re incredibly excited. Getting our label partnered with Universal Motown is the fruit of having built Rihanna into one of the top artists in the world. We (SRP) are now being seen as label executives as opposed to just writers/producers,” Rogers and SRP co-founder Carl Sturken said.

“We can’t tell you how happy we are to be able to bring this talent from Barbados to the attention of the elite,” they added.

Both were gung-ho about the most recent signee, Linton. “Hal has such a buzz up here it’s amazing! And he’s so different from Rihanna and Shontelle! He’s being seen here as a true soul singer and writer. And when we tell the executives he’s also from Barbados, they can’t believe that even more talent is coming from there. We’re doing great things. We’re building the empire,” Rogers added jokingly.

Turning his attention to the 23-year-old Shontelle Layne, whose debut T-Shirt – her first Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 – led to an endorsement deal with the Hanes brand, Rogers said it was clear her profile was growing, as exemplified in her performance in the national Thanksgiving Day Parade featured on NBC.

“Only major people get to do that,” was how he put it.

He also informed that she had recorded a duet with Senegalese-American artist Akon, and it will be the theme song to the movie Confessions Of A Shopaholic, set to hit screens in February.

Shontelle, who is jointly managed by SRP, Barbadian Sonia Mullins and Rebel One, will also perform in the Bahamas next month at a Michael Jordan-hosted Hanes event, and will do a 15-city tour of the United States sponsored by Hanes before heading to Europe on a promotional tour.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles-based Rihanna – whom Rogers met while on his annual holiday here four years ago – will meet with “Uncle Evan” and producer L. A. Reid this weekend to discuss her next album – the fourth – due for release in the late summer 2009.

“She did big Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand tours recently, and just finished an endorsement with Gucci,” Rogers said, beaming with joy at her recent three Grammy nominations.

“She is between getting her album started and her movie career. We’ll focus on a major movie between albums ,” he added.

Yet another proud Bajan has joined the growing ‘major label club’.

Versatile singer and four-time Barbados Music Award winner Hal Linton signed a “multi-million-dollar”, five-album deal last week with one of the world’s biggest music labels, Universal Motown.

Linton, who was personally signed by Universal Motown president Sylvia Rhone, now becomes label mate to fellow Barbadian singer Shontelle Layne, whose new hit “T-shirt” is steadily rising on the charts, as well as recording stars such as Lil Wayne, Nelly and Ashanti. Parent company, Universal Music Group, has also boasted artistes such as Stevie Wonder, Prince, Toni Braxton and Elton John.

In an exclusive interview with www.nationnews.com, Linton expressed satisfaction at attaining the goal he set out to achieve over three years ago when he put out the single Cardiac Arrest, which first gained him attention in Barbados.

“When I put that song out three years ago, this was my goal. I wanted the world to sit up and take notice,” he said during a telephone interview from New York City, where he has been based for over a year, working with manager Teneille Doyle to get to this point. Doyle paid tribute to Invest Barbados, which provided the financial backing for Linton which allowed him to focus on developing his product and image.

“They put their financial support behind Hal and believed in the vision we had. They trusted us even though this is still a new thing to Barbados. It has been almost a year since they approved the funds for Hal Linton’s project and I’m glad to say that the objective we had when we went to them – we did it,” Doyle told www.nationnews.com.

Since May, Linton has been working with the Syndicated Rhythm Productions of team Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers. Rogers, who is married to Barbadian Jackie Rogers, is well known in musical circles as the man who discovered Rihanna and who was also instrumental in helping Shontelle

land her contract with Universal Motown. He also had a hand in helping shape Linton’s sound as he prepared for his major label debut.

“Everybody should be very proud and excited. You’re going to hear some great music from Hal Linton,” said Rogers.

Linton’s deal makes him the fifth Barbadian artiste to be signed to a major label in the last four years, the others being Rupee, who signed to Atlantic Records in 2004, Rihanna with Def Jam in 2005, Shontelle with Universal Motown in 2006, and Livvi Franc with Jive Records in 2007.

Rogers said this was a clear indication of the depth and diversity of musical talent in Barbados.

“For Barbados, I think it’s huge that this small island has all these artistes signed to major labels and they’re all different. Barbados is producing all kinds of diverse musical styles.”