Arlissa Rupert, 20, from Crystal Palace, was signed by Roc Nation after the music stable's president Joe Brown overheard her work being played. She has just released her first single, Sticks & Stones, and her debut album is out later this year.
She left school after A-levels and worked in a clothes shop to pay for studio time. Arlissa, pictured, said: "I was writing and recording with a friend. He got some people from London Records down to the studio and they offered me a contract the same day.
"The label were playing my music to some people at Roc Nation in New York. Joe Brown walked past , heard the music and said on the spot, ‘I want her’. I flew out the next week, met Joe and signed a management deal.â€
Arlissa, who is also signed to the Next Model Management agency, has always had the support of her African â€"American mother and German father but hid her talent from friends at school. “If people knew, I thought they would expect too much from me,†she said.
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