ROC4LIFE

Welcome to another installment of Roc Links. We’ve got tons of interesting stories lined up for you today, from Teyana Taylor’s G.O.O.D. Music deal to the buzz around Made in America. Pop the hood for the goods.

“GOLDIE” WAS A JAY-Z BEAT
So says hip-hop wunderkind Hit-Boy in a new interview. The boardsman has been on a roll with the Throne’s “Niggas in Paris,” Rihanna’s “Watch ‘n’ Learn,” Ye’s “Way Too Cold,” and most recently A$AP Rocky’s “Goldie” (originally intended for Hov). In his interview with Noisey, Hit-Boy talks about getting music advice from Kanye West, working with the G.O.O.D. Music boss and his upcoming single, “JAY-Z Interview,” which he co-created with Bink. Let the beat build. [HipHop-N-More]

 

TEYANA TAYLOR JOINS GOOD MUSIC

This one shouldn’t surprise anyone. Teyana Taylor, 21, has been a mainstay at G.O.O.D. Music for a couple years now, singing on Kanye’s album, supplying the sweet hook to “Christmas in Harlem,” popping up at the label’s SXSW showcase, etcetera. But after years of teasing Taylor with a G.O.O.D. deal, Yeezy finally decided to go ahead and put a ring on it.

Here’s the skinny on Teyana Taylor:

• She’s from a planet called Harlem.
• She told us to “Google Me” in 2008.
• She taught Beyonce the Chicken Noodle Soup dance, as seen in “Ring the Alarm.” “That kind of love coming from Jay and Beyoncé was crazy,” recalls Teyana.
• Her first mixtape, The Misunderstanding of Teyana Taylor, dropped last month.
• She opened for rapper Game during his European “R.E.D. Tour.”
• She made a cameo in Jay-Z’s “Blue Magic” video (the pint-sized pop locker).

 

MADE IN AMERICA FESTIVAL BUZZ
We’re four months removed from the Made in America Festival, but the buzz is already bubbling. Our friends at VIBE went ahead and compiled a gallery of artists Hov should call upon for the two-day festivla — everyone from Grammy-winning songbirds (Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys) to Philly rap bruisers (Meek Mill, Freeway), as well as a few funnies (Biggie Hologram. HA!). Elsewhere, Broken Cool outlines 10 things they’d like to see at M.I.A., among them a reunion with Beanie Sigel and a rap performance by Taylor Swift. Ha!

♦ 25 Artists JAY-Z SHould Bring Out [VIBE]

♦ 10 Things We’d Like to See Happen at Made in America [Broken Cool]

— Rizoh