Singer, model, actor Tyrese recently signed a recording deal with Clive Davis’s J Records. Tyrese’s former label RCA Records shut down its black music division last month, leaving artists Cherokee, Dante, and Coko in search for new label homes.
Tyrese told LAUNCH that he was happy to join Davis’s music family. “I’m excited, man, because like never before, I’m going to be looked at as a recording artist, like I’ve always wanted to be looked at ’cause everything else I do is kinda…you know, you’re just winging it. I give my all, but it’s just extra curricular activities, you know, and music is my first love. So I just look forward to being looked at as a recording star.”
Tyrese’s feelings about the closure of RCA’s black music department, however, are bittersweet. “It’s unfortunate, but, you know, I guess it’s a taste issue. When you decide to sign somebody or when you decide to hire an executive, it’s based on your taste, and your perception of what someone is going to do for you. If they’re not able to live up to people’s expectations, then you’ll have a lot of unrecouped money, and unrecouped balances, and things like that happen. Hopefully, if they decide to put the black music division back off the ground, they’ll hire a better team of people to run such as major company, and this won’t happen again.”
Tyrese’s sophomore release, 2000 Watts, is Number 43 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and the record’s second single, “What Am I Gonna Do,” is Number 25 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart.