This Week In WTF?!?

VANESSA CARLTON SIGNS TO DEF JAM?

You gotta be shitting me, right?

MTV has the dirt: A funny thing happened to Irv Gotti on the way to a business meeting. The multiplatinum hip-hop producer had recently signed a deal with Universal Records for his label, the Inc., and was visiting with the bosses to discuss business matters....An A&R rep noticed Gotti in the Universal building hallway and prodded him to join another meeting in the adjoining offices where, oddly enough, Vanessa Carlton happened to be working out a deal to join the label's roster. In a twist of fate even he admits is surprising, Gotti ended up signing the pop singer to his company, the one formerly known as Murder Inc. Now, he and Carlton are pushing to finish her new album in time for a spring release.

"I see Vanessa and I say to myself, 'I know her from somewhere,' " Gotti, preparing for a Carlton showcase at the Canal Room, remembered of their initial chance meeting. "I didn't quite know yet to put the name on it, [but I knew] she was an artist. She started playing and her voice, it completely took me over. I start rambling, running my mouth basically. And just going crazy.

"After I calmed down," Gotti continued, "she played 'A Thousand Miles,' and once I heard the piano riff, I spazzed out again. 'You're the girl from "White Chicks," ' " Gotti recalled Carlton jumping in, finishing his thought for him. They laughed about the song being parodied in the Wayans brothers' comedy.....MORE HERE!

If she duets with Jay-Z on her next album can they please cover 'Ebony & Ivory'? I'd pay to hear that!

MP3: 'A Thousand Miles'