ANOTHER HEAVY WEIGHT FEMALE RAPPER FROM KENYA (XTATIC) 2012

KENYAN RAPPER-SINGER-SONGWRITER BREAKS NEW GROUND WITH HISTORIC DEAL -- RELEASES FIRST OFFICIAL SINGLE, WILD!

Sony Music Entertainment Africa is proud to announce the signing of rising African rapper, Xtatic, to a multi-album and full management deal. The deal marks a first for a Kenyan artist and sees the hotshot rapper, songwriter and performer (born Gloria Edna Mecheo) join a global roster of artists on Sony’s RCA label that includes the likes of Usher, Chris Brown, R Kelly, Death Grips, Ciara, Jennifer Lopez, Sean Kingston, P!nk and the late Michael Jackson to name a few.

The 21-year-old was recently in Johannesburg, recording tracks for her debut full-length album with hot new producers ‘The Fahrenheitz’. The record will be released later in 2012 as part of the multi-album recording deal Xtatic has inked with Sony and is being preceded by the first single, ‘WILD!’ (attached) being serviced to radio TODAY! Xtatic has also signed a full services management deal with Sony Music and ROCKSTAR4000, and worldwide Music Publishing deal with ROCKSTAR PUBLISHING, positioning her for a full assault on the South African, Nigerian, Kenyan, Pan African and, ultimately, global music scenes.

“We’re convinced that Xtatic has the kind of standout talent that will take her into many different markets and are thrilled to welcome her into the Sony recording family,” says RCA Africa Director, Spiro Damaskinos. “Xtatic is without doubt one of the most promising, talented and exciting contemporary hip-hop artists to emerge from the continent in recent years,” adds Jandre Louw, Founder and CEO of ROCKSTAR4000 Music Entertainment. “We are truly ecstatic to work with her and thrilled to be part of the Sony Music team to take her and her music to fans across the world.”      

Xtatic herself has been taken by surprise by the speed at which she moved from being a word-of-mouth, online and television sensation with “The Prep Track”, to signing her first deal. “I received the first call from ROCKSTAR4000 on my birthday, I was at home and thought someone was prank calling me,” she confides. “I always thought that I had the skills to stand out from the crowd, but actually, a few years back I didn’t yet have the proper mix of content, flow and delivery to really do something special so this timing just feels right.”

Those three key elements – of content, flow and delivery - came together on “The Prep Track” which Xtatic recorded in 2011. Its accompanying video, produced by Mushking, tapped into Xtatic’s individuality in a genre that generally trades on one-size fits all bling and sexiness to gain attention.  Featuring attitude, a baseball bat, skateboarding alongside edgy glam shots, the video represented the two sides of Xtatic and earned the rapper the attention of television and radio. As she puts it, “Street Girl and Glam Girl are the two sides that basically represents who I am.”

It was through “The Prep Track”, as well as an earlier single, “Venom”, that ROCKSTAR4000’s Louw and the Sony team based in Johannesburg recognised the talent that Xtatic has been honing since she was a young teenager growing up in Nairobi, and signed her to a ground-breaking multi-record and full management deal.