Mariah 'in talks for new deal'

Carey was dropped after poor sales of her last album

Mariah Carey is in talks with rap and hip-hop label Def Jam Records about signing a record contract, according to reports.

The New York Post reports the star is talking directly to Def Jam president Lyor Cohen about a possible deal.

Carey has officially severed ties with Virgin Records after the company agreed to pay her £19m to leave, although the singer has threatened to sue the company over the wording of a statement.

Now she desperately wants to find a new stable willing to invest in her stalled career.

Mariah's album and movie Glitter were flops

Carey signed to Virgin in a reported £70m five-album deal in 2001.

But her first album under the label, Glitter, failed to capture the imagination of fans and was branded a flop.

Her first lead role in a movie, also called Glitter, was savaged by critics and failed at the box office.

The New York Post reports Def Jam is offering a deal worth £2.1m and £3.5m per album.

Carey's spokeswoman admitted a number of record companies had approached the star but no deals had been agreed.

Counter-sue

Def Jam's roster of artists include LL Cool J, Method Man, Ja Rule and Jay-Z.

Lawyers for Carey are threatening to sue Virgin parent company EMI for saying it "terminated" her contract.

They are angry that EMI announced it was terminating the pop diva's £70m five-album deal, instead of the agreed wording, "cancelled".

The music giants are threatening to counter-sue the singer, if Carey's lawyers go ahead with court action.

Burt Fields said: "We will file a cross-complaint saying Ms Carey's representatives were making a lot of inflammatory statements around the world on Thursday which go way beyond the agreed press release."