Having previously mentored Rihanna and Kanye West, rapper, Tidal founder and Roc Nation boss Jay Z has his sights set on Harry Styles. According to an interview with the mogul, Jay Z thinks he can make the One Direction member “the biggest artist in the world” within a year.
“Harry doesn’t need any help with exposure; everybody in the world knows who he is,” he told the Daily Star Sunday. “But he does need to make the transition from being part of a group to becoming an individual artist.”
At the end of last year it emerged that Styles had written four new songs registered under his own name rather than the One Direction moniker. Entitled Already Home, Coco, Endlessly and 5378 Miles, the songs were registered with the performing rights organisation Ascap, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. He has yet to confirm news of his solo venture.
Whether or not Styles will experiment away from One Direction during their year-long hiatus, Jay Z seems confident of his capabilities. He added: “I can get him working with the bigger artists, the biggest producers – and have him as the biggest artist in the world within a year.”
Whatever happens, 2016 is guaranteed to see the first solo output from Styles’ former One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik. The singer has signed to RCA and has spoken about his frustration with being in the globe-conquering boyband.
“There was never any room for me to experiment creatively in the band,” he told the Fader. “If I would sing a hook or a verse slightly R&B, or slightly myself, it would always be recorded 50 times until there was a straight version that was pop, generic as fuck, so they could use that version.”
