Bajan singer Rihanna has landed two lucrative endorsement contracts.

by RICKY JORDAN

JUST WHEN you thought the DJ couldn't turn her music up any louder, Barbadian star Rihanna has landed two lucrative endorsement contracts.

The Def Jam recording artiste is about to be the US$20 million face of world-renowned sportswear giant, Nike – the first entertainer to do so – and will endorse a new line of trendy jeans for the JC Penny clothing chain.

According to Rihanna's producer and writer, Evan Rogers, who "discovered" her while on holiday in Barbados last year, the endorsements will take the 17-year-old's fairytale rise to stardom even higher.

"She's making history because she's the first ever non-athlete to endorse Nike, which has built a worldwide campaign around the first single of her second album," Rogers said of the Pon De Replay girl.

"The Nike campaign will include an online promotion and television commercial. It's a US$20 million worldwide campaign for Nike women's wear, and Rihanna will be the face of that campaign," he added, noting that the label worn by Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan and other sports stars would be launched with the 17-year-old next month.

The launch will be the ideal birthday gift for Rihanna, who turns 18 on February 20, and will feature her new single, SOS, the flagship song of her upcoming album. Incidentally, she may perform that song at tonight's inaugural Barbados Music Awards.

The JC Penny endorsement, meanwhile, is for the Bisou jeans line, which Rogers described as a "healthy" deal and the possible launch of Rihanna's clothing/merchandise line.

"I respect her financial privacy, but both deals are very lucrative, and it's just the beginning," was how Rogers put it.

Asked how the contracts had come about, Rogers said Rihanna's star power was moving even faster than her music, businesses were seeking her out, and the endorsements had amazingly occurred after only two singles: Pon De Replay and If It's Loving That You Want, which is now in the United States' radio monitor Top 10.

"Normally artistes get these kinds of offers a little further along in their careers," he said, adding that endorsements were the route being taken by hip hop artistes like Beyoncé, who has worked with McDonald's, Kodak and Revlon.

Stating that endorsements were artistes' way of battling illegal downloading, Rogers said "it's taken a huge bite out of sales (but) with endorsements you can make more money than from an album".

Rihanna's debut album, Music Of The Sun, has been a worldwide
million-seller, reaching gold in the United States and United Kingdom, platinum in Canada and double platinum in Japan.

rickyjordan@nationnews.com