Shown celebrating the new partnership between Atlantic Records and VP Records are, from left: VP attorney Jay Quatrini, Atlantic senior vice president of Business and Legal Affairs Michael Kushner, VP vice president of Marketing Randy Chin, Atlantic director of Business and Legal Affairs Ariel Taitz, Atlantic co-president Craig Kallman, Sean Paul's attorney Terri Baker, VP/Atlantic recording artiste Sean Paul, VP president Christopher Chin, VP senior director of A&R Murray Elias, and Atlantic co-president Ron Shapiro.

ATLANTIC Records and VP Records have announced a long-term "strategic partnership" which will see Atlantic, the legendary home of some of R&B's heavyweights, undertaking worldwide marketing, promotion and distribution on behalf of the New York-based VP Records, the top reggae dustributors.

The announcement, made yesterday in a press release from Atlantic Records, confirms the story carried in the Observer of October 3, in which we reported that both entities had signed such a deal and that high-riding dancehall artiste Sean Paul's forthcoming album Dutty Rock, would be the first set released under the new arrangement. Atlantic will also distribute VP's popular Reggae Gold annual compilations of top reggae/dancehall hits.

Yesterday's announcement said that with regard to Sean Paul, Atlantic assumes "immediate responsibility for the international marketing" of the new album. The 16-track set, due to be released on November 12, features the production skills of Richard "Richie D" Martin, Delroy "Delly Ranks" Foster, Steelie and Cleevie and others.

At the time the Observer broke the story, VP Records refused to comment on the deal or even to confirm whether any discussions were being undertaken to that effect. Confirmation did come, however, from Jade Lee of JADE Promotions, publicists for Sean Paul, as well as from the artiste's manager Jeremy Harding, who said essentially that the agreement was a done deal.

This new agreement, according to yesterday's announcement, however excludes certain selected territories where VP currently has distribution arrangements in place.

The first single from Dutty Rock, Gimme the Light, is already a multi-format break-out hit on radio and in clubs. It has charted for 27 weeks on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart, where it is now No 5 with a bullet, and leaps 16 spots this week to No 18 with a bullet on Billboard's pop Hot 100, in its 25th charting week. The Gimme the Light video clip is in heavy rotation on BET, MTV and MTV2.

Sean Paul was also recently awarded the British MOBO Award for Best Reggae Artise of the Year.

The press release quotes Atlantic co-president Craig Kallman, as saying that the Atlantic/VP deal "brings a much-needed breath of fresh air to hip-hop and R&B".

"Reggae has been mistaken for an underground phenomenon for much too long, despite Bob Marley's place among the most influential figures in contemporary music since the 1970s, and even though Jamaican DJ culture spawned American rap," he said.

"Reggae, and specifically dancehall, have been the most prolific sources of musical advances in R&B, hip-hop, club music, and even pop in the last twenty years."

Kallman added: "This agreement brings to Atlantic a slate of world-class VP reggae artists, including Sean Paul, Lady Saw, Tanto Metro & Devonte, Beres Hammond, Capleton, and TOK. It also puts us in the leadership position of catching Jamaica's most innovative sounds as soon as they happen in the studio. I'm so proud that Atlantic's unparalleled heritage in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, and urban music will now be extended to the most vitally creative force in global popular music today."

VP president Christopher Chin said, "We look forward to a long and successful relationship with Atlantic."

VP vice-president of marketing, Randy Chin added, "We have every confidence in Atlantic's ability to bring our artistes and producers to the international stage from our company's strong creative and commercial base in the community."

Under the agreement, Atlantic will also distribute VP's Reggae Gold multi-artiste compilations, which have been for the past 10 years the best-selling reggae anthology series on the market. The newest Reggae Gold package, the best seller in the series' history, includes Gimme the Light, and also features Give It to Her, by Tanto Metro & Devonte, another major crossover record, which spent 20 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart earlier this year.

Atlantic, in the release, made the point that only a few times in music industry history has a label with such a pre-eminent position in a core urban style aligned itself entirely with one major label and cited the signings of Def Jam Records to Columbia in 1985, and Philadelphia International to CBS in1972, as being on the short list of such instances.

"History shows that the success of any kind of urban music through a major label is predicated on the right framework, with creative development remaining in the hands of the producers and artistes who address the core audience. Our partnership has all the earmarks of a Def Jam for the new millennium," said Murray Elias, VP's senior director, Artiste and Repertoire, for Sean Paul, Tanto Metro & Devonte, and Lady Saw.

Other VP artistes who have also crossed over to the mainstream audience in recent years, through a combination of club play and exposure on hip-hop, R&B and pop radio, are Tanto Metro and Devonte, with Give It to Her and Everyone Falls In Love, and Beenie Man, who posted the first of three top 40 pop singles, Who Am I, independently through VP Records.

VP Records, established in 1979 as a retail store, is the largest independent label for new Jamaican music in the United States, and holds a predominant position in the influential hip-hop-flavoured dancehall niche. As the label has developed, it has come under close scrutiny from major US record labels, which have observed the label's success in marketing and promoting reggae artistes.

Atlantic has been home to acts such as Roberta Flack, Brandy, Robin S and others and has also previously worked with reggae acts like Inner Circle, Garnett Silk and Dawn Penn.

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