Jay-Z goes Soca

Intent on capitalizing on the growing Soca music industry, legendary rapper Jay-Z has established a record label that would house Soca music.

The visionary has expanded his Roc-A-Fella empire with the launch of the new record label called ROC La Familia that will be part of Universal Music’s Def Jam Recordings, the world’s largest rap label. {{more}}

Jay-Z said, “Everybody talks about the world getting smaller, well we are doing something about it. Roc La Familia will leverage the extensive resources of Def Jam to introduce fans to cultures that they would not normally be exposed to.” Besides Soca music, the new label will include such genres as reggae, rap-reggae hybrid known as reggaeton, calypso, tribal and West Indian.

Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, formed Roc-A-Fella in 1995 with former partner Damon Dash. In 1997 the duo sold a 50 percent stake to Def Jam, which last year bought the other half for about $10 million. Last year Jay-Z was elevated to president of Def Jam after Universal bought out the rapper’s Roc-A-Fella label.

He has named Juan Perez to head Roc La Familia.