Former ‘America’s Got Talent’ contestant Alexis Jordan has become the latest artist signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation imprint. The 17-year-old South Carolina native didn’t secure the winning spot when she appeared on the inaugural season of the show in 2007, but she impressed judges with her cover of Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing.’

Jordan later became a viral sensation with her YouTube covers of popular songs including B.o.B.’s ‘Nothing on You,’ and Jay-Z’s ‘Run This Town’ and caught the attention of executives at Stargate and Roc Nation. “I thought if they didn’t love me then they wouldn’t fly me all the way out to New York,” she said, after receiving the initial call from Stargate. “I knew I had a good chance. Once I got out there we recorded a few songs and Jay-Z came to the studio. I was so excited! And the next thing I knew I was signed to StarRoc/Roc Nation.”

Jordan recently debuted her upbeat single ‘Happiness,’ and revealed that her album will follow the same, youthful tempo. “I want to be really positive, no cussing, none of that,” she said. “I’m a young artist and I want to be a role model. A lot of songs are upbeat and some are ballads. There’s a little bit of that country vibe in it, and a little bit of that reggae vibe. My album has everything.”

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