Music World Moves: Kelly Rowland & Solange Knowles Record Deal Drama

Last week, the internet was abuzz with the rumors that Kelly Rowland had been dropped by Columbia Records.

The day after the story surfaced online, the record company CEO, Robert Stringer attempted to quell the rumors by releasing a formal statement.

"Kelly Rowland is one of our finest contemporary artists and a musical force to be reckoned with. It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work with Kelly and we will continue our working relationship with her under the Destiny's Child moniker. The decision for Kelly to seek other opportunities for her solo career was agreed upon mutually, and any reports to the contrary are false," Stringer offered.

Anyone with a remote knowledge of the music business understood that since Rowland was signed to Columbia Records via a production deal with Music World Entertainment, the company founded by Matthew Knowles; it was inevitable that her deal with Columbia Records was compromised once the 28-year-old singer ended her management agreement with Knowles back in January.

(See: 'It's A Wrap: Kelly Rowland Ends Management Relationship With Beyonce's Dad')

Now my sources tell me that the real reason the story about Rowland leaked the way it did last week was so that no one would realize that Geffen/Interscope Records has opted not to further their relationship with Knowles' daughter Solange Knowles.

The eclectic singer's sophomore release 'Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams' has only sold around 138,000 units since its release in August of 2008 and Geffen/Interscope didn't see the value in doing a new CD on her.

"Geffen did a one-off deal with Music World Entertainment for Solange and wasn't interested in doing a new contract with her. People at the label really liked working with her because other than her infamous news outburst in Las Vegas, she was a constant professional. There were challenges dealing with her camp, but Solange was great to work with. In the end, the CD didn't sell despite Solange's countless high profile appearances," the record label source told me.

Solange

One of the record labels that Knowles has been meeting with about signing his youngest daughter is Epic Records.

Incidentally, Epic Records is also the label that had initially approached Rowland about a new recording contract upon learning that she would be dissolving her management and recording relationship with Music World Entertainment/Columbia.

Epic's new president Amanda Ghost, a London-bred former recording artist and songwriter, recognized Rowland's impact as an international recording artist and thought she would be able to duplicate her European success here in America.

"Amanda was really into signing Kelly and then Matthew started meeting with her about Solange. I'm told he used his influence in the Sony system with Beyonce to complicate the existing offer to Kelly and then the deal ultimately didn't happen," the source explained.

Ghost was recently spotted at the South By Southwest Music Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas where she was apparently scouting Solange, who performed on the last night event.

So both Rowland and Solange are now currently without record company homes, though I am told that Rowland will likely be announcing a new record deal in the coming weeks.

At press time, a rep for Music World Entertainment was unavailable for comment.

Updated:

Eight hours after requesting a comm Solange & Matthew Knowles ent on the matter yesterday, Mathew Knowles' had his rep issue me the following statement shortly after midnight.

The unedited statement read: "Our joint venture with Music World and Interscope/Geffen/A&M is very much in placed for Solange. We are currently experiencing success at video outlets and radio with the current single T.O.N.Y co-written by Ceelo of Knarls Barkly and Solange. Ceelo and Kid Cudi also appear in the video. It's very disappointing in recent days the amount of false statements in the marketplace from Solange being drop to me accused of being Kelly Rowland's father."

To further clarify, no columnist at AOL Black Voices ever reported the rumor of Knowles fathering Rowland.

Knowles rep then forwarded an alleged statement from Geffen/Interscope on Wednesday evening that read: "Contrary to rumors floating through the internet over the last few days, Solange remains a part of the Interscope Geffen A&M family. It's unfortunate that people have posted false information without checking their sources first."

As you will read in my original story above, BV Buzz never reported Solange had been dropped by Geffen/Interscope, however I do stand by what was reported in its entirety, which was the label does not want to proceed forward with a second project and that Knowles has been shopping deals with other labels for his daughter – particularly Epic Records, as detailed above.

Conveniently, none of that was addressed in Knowles' statement and there was not a denial issued in that regard – that's what we in the journalism world call "good spin!"

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Black Music Notes Mar. 19

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3/19/09: Kanye West / The Dream
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3/19/09: The Miracles
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3/19/09: Chester Gregory
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Altovise Davis, the widow of Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. , recently died at the age of 65. Two days prior to her death, she was admitted to Los Angeles'Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after suffering a stroke. The couple, who met in 1967 on the set of the musical 'Golden Boy,' married in 1970 and remained together until Davis' untimely death of throat cancer in 1990.

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3/19/09: Earth, Wind & Fire
Iconic Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group Earth, Wind & Fire is set to hit the road this summer for a 30-city tour beginning June 5 in Orange Beach, AL. In addition to Maurice White and company gracing the stage will be pop-rock band Chicago, which will perform a full show before joining for a final set together, according to Billboard. The tour will conclude on Aug. 1 in Lake Tahoe, NV.

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3/19/09: Kim Burrell
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3/19/09: Mike Jones
Despite being on hiatus since the release of his debut album 'Who Is Mike Jones?' Houston's own Mike Jones is ready to make his mark on the charts once again with the release of 'The Voice.' Jones' sophomore effort is packed with some of the industry's most talented artist including, Lil' Wayne, T-Pain, Devin the Dude, Hurricane Chris and Twista. He's had recent success with his latest single 'Next To You,' which is currently number 16 on Radio and Records Rhythmic charts. "For the past four years, I have been doing a lot of restructuring, getting this record right, making sure my business is right and more," Jones said of his hiatus. "Now, I am ready to finish what I started. I'm hoping my fans will feel 'The Voice' was worth the wait." Mike Jones 'The Voice' is due in stores April 28.

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3/19/09: Prince
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