Six months ago British pop star Rita Ora sued to be released from her Roc Nation contract, that lawsuit came to an end yesterday (7th June) and Rita is now free to talk to other labels. Coincidentally, Tiwa Savage was pictured with Jay Z the same day amidst strong speculation that the Nigerian pop star had put pen to paper on a contract with the Jay Z-led company.
In her lawsuit, Rita claimed that Roc Nation was so focused on other ventures, from Jay Z’s personal career to launching a sports agency, that they failed to support her career as they had promised. This is a claim similarly made by Wale on his way out of the company in 2014.
In a 2015 interview, the rapper said –
It was hard because I was there when that jawn was S. Dot Enterprises, that jawn was brand spankin’ new…It was hard for me. But to me personally they’re going in another direction. They’re sports.
However, with the recent signing of DJ Khaled and with a roster already boasting the likes of Rihanna, Meek Mill, Fabolous and Big Sean, it’s more likely that the company diversified its portfolio rather than “changed direction”.
On their part, Roc Nation responded that they had spent over $2 million promoting Rita Ora, and that if her career wasn’t doing as well as she’d expected, they weren’t the ones to blame. Thankfully, for all those concerned, the issue is now resolved and Rita’s departure has freed up space on the Roc Nation roster for Tiwa Savage to occupy.
There are a number of things we can learn from Rita’s situation at the label.
Rita had the flexibility of remaining in London rather than moving to New York at the start of her contract, Tiwa could be offered the same flexibility and remain in Lagos and work from here, at least initially.
Rita’s solitary album on Roc Nation – Ora – wasn’t actually released in the US, it was released in the singer’s native UK and a number of other countries. If Tiwa signs a record deal with Roc Nation, she might not be required to take a big leap and release albums for the US and other markets immediately.
Lastly, Rita Ora signed a 360 contract with Roc Nation but the music part of Jay’s business has 3 divisions – record label, management and publishing. This means that Tiwa doesn’t have to have Jay and company in all parts of her business. She could do like Shakira has done with the Roc and sign a management deal but continue her recording contract with Mavin Records or she could structure a record deal similar to Brazilian super star Claudia Leitte has with the label but retain her current management situation. Tiwa Savage has been a songwriter for the likes of Monica in the past, so that could be on the table as well or she could sign over some or all of her publishing to the company.
The options are endless for Tiwa Savage but at the same time, the sky is the limit. We are just going to have to wait and see which direction the singer chooses to soar.