Ten years after signing with the star-birthing label, Rihanna bids ‘Island Def Jam‘-as the world knows it- adieu today.
Why the star is no longer signed to the label?
Details below…
Effective immediately, ‘Island Def Jam’ ceases to exist after its parent company, the Universal Music Group, prized a number of its subsidiary’s apart to create ‘stand-alone labels’, IDJ being one of them.
Indeed, as of today, Rihanna joins the likes of Elijah Blake, Kanye West and August Alsina to wave farewell to the label as they know it, joining its CEO Steve Bartels at the revamped Def Jam, cutting ties with Island…for good.
Set to arm itself with brand new marketing, A&R and publicity staff, Island will continue to be run by David Massey as Def Jam reveals that Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua and Dion “No I.D.” Wilson will now serve as executive vice presidents and co-heads of A&R at the label.
Meanwhile, by way of its split from DJ, Justin Bieber now joins the aforementioned Massey at the revitalised Island, taking fellow chart-topper Ariana Grande along with him. This, as the labels’ former sister ‘Motown’ appoints Ethiopia Habtemariam as its president, where she will run the company from within the Capitol Music Group.
On the shocking move, Universal’s chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge explained:
“At the heart of these great companies is the vision and creative instincts of a team of passionate professionals. At UMG, our labels are empowered to be entrepreneurial and take creative risks. By re-establishing Def Jam, Island and Motown as stand-alone labels within the UMG family, we’re positioning them to recapture the uniqueness of their brands and serve artists with the singularity of vision, focus and creativity that was at the core of their original success.”