After months of having major foreign record labels vying to sign him, singjay and producer Serani was yesterday signed to a four-album deal with Universal Records.

Universal Records is an American and British record label owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as part of The Universal Motown/Universal Republic Group. Universal has had success in breaking new artistes such as Amy Winehouse, Lindsay Lohan and Lil Wayne, among others.

When the STAR spoke to Serani’s manager Julian Jones-Griffiths, he explained that Universal had approached Serani’s camp weeks ago after the continuing success of the Billboard chart-topping song No Games.

Jones-Griffith told the STAR, “We went up for several meetings with major record companies before Christmas and after a lot of offers, we decided to go with Universal who we felt more comfortable with. They see Serani as a cross-over pop act, he’s a brilliant producer and musician so this can go far.”

According to Jones-Griffith, it’s a one of a kind deal and one that Universal has never done before. Not elaborating on the details, Jones-Griffith said, “It’s good to have a company like Universal behind the album and the song – we expect Serani to go far.”

The right ‘fit’

A pleased Serani told the STAR that he believed Universal Records was the right ‘fit’ for himself and his music. He said, “It’s a rebirth, basically I’ve covered a lot of ground, in other words, the underground. I’m gonna have a lot of work ahead of me, all the work I did before, I will have to do 50 times more.”

Serani says he will continue to reinvent his sound and bring new ideas to the table. With the deal, Serani wants to become an ambassador of Jamaican music saying “reggae needs this, dancehall needs this and Jamaica needs this for the music. Right now is all about doing something for the country, to be an ambassador for the music and to open a lot of doors for other artistes”. Serani still affirms that he needs the help of the Jamaican media and community to help launch further to success.

Part of the producing trio DASECA, Serani pursued his career as a singjay a year and a half ago with the release Dying with Mavado. Since then, he has continued to produce hits with songs like She Loves Me, Stinking Rich, Romance and others. His video for No Games was officially completed last weekend and will be released soon.

Source: JamaicaStar