Jay-Z 'close to deal' with Epic Records

Jay-Z is reportedly close to reaching a deal with Sony's Epic Records for the distribution of his future albums, it has been reported.

Sources close to the negotiations say that an agreement is "95 per cent complete", Billboard reports.

Epic records will distribute the music Jay-Z releases under his own label, Roc Nation. Blueprint 3 is likely to be the first of the '99 Problems' artist's albums to be issued by the company.

Sony also represents Beyonce under the Columbia Records label, however the insider insisted that the rapper would not be on the same label as his wife.

"It will be on the Epic side, not Columbia," they said.

Last week, Jay-Z bought out his remaining contract with Def Jam records.