Kylie Minogue Signs To Jay-Z’s Roc Nation

Following the recent addition of Timbaland to the Roc Nation roster — not such a stretch when you consider, for one, the producer is behind Justin Timberlake‘s current Jay-Z-featuring single “Suit & Tie” — the company has now announced that our favorite pop Aussie Kylie Minogue has joined Hova’s family of artists, as well.

“Roc Nation would like to welcome Aussie singer, recording artist, songwriter, actress and designer Kylie Minogue to the family,” reads a press release. “In a career now spanning 25 years, Kylie has released 11 studio albums, two live CDs, eight live concert DVDs, a greatest hits double album, and multiple video packages. She has released over 50 hit singles worldwide, including the Grammy-winning Come Into My World, and has sold more than 68 million albums worldwide. Needless to say, we’re excited to have Kylie join the Roc fam.”

We know what you’re thinking — this is a bit of a head-scratcher, isn’t it? Or is it? Let’s take a closer look.

Welcome Kylie Minogue To The Roc Nation Family ow.ly/2uIro0

— Roc Nation (@RocNation) February 6, 2013

First, as we were casually digging through old photos the other day to compile our Classic Ladies Of The Grammys roundup, we ran across this one of Kylie and Jay buddying-up for photographers at the 2004 awards ceremony, when Minogue won Best Dance Recording for her Fever single “Come Into My World.” Of course, who knew that a friendship forged that day nearly a decade ago would eventually parlay into a business relationship?

Kylie has also had a long appreciation for rappers, having first employed one for her 1990 Rhythm Of Love track “One Boy Girl” (in which Minogue herself scandalously took a stab at spitting a few rhymes). Thirteen years later, her Body Language album boasted a more R&B/hip-hop edge to the songs, particularly the hits “Red Blooded Woman” and “Chocolate” — the latter of which featured Ludacris at one point. (He was cut from the final version, though you can still hear a snippet of his vocals in the intro.)

Still, while Kylie hopping over to Roc Nation following the absorption of her US label EMI/Capitol into Universal might not make the most obvious sense, we’re just excited for the possibility of seeing the blond pop icon rubbing shoulders with Jay and Beyonce at Barclays at some point — not to mention hearing how this new endeavor might have her stylistically switching up her sound, if at all.