In December 2003, Rihanna met vacationing music producer Evan Rogers through mutual friends in Barbados.[20] Rogers heard about Rihanna's singing ability and asked her to come to his hotel room to audition for him, where she performed renditions of the songs "Emotion" and "Hero".[21] This impressed Rogers, who then took Rihanna and her mother to his home in Connecticut to record some demo tapes. Rihanna was signed to Rogers' and Sturken's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions, which assigned her a lawyer and manager. In late 2004, her four-song demo tape was distributed to several labels, including Def Jam Recordings.[21] Jay Brown, an A&R executive at Def Jam, came across Rihanna's demo and played it for then-president and CEO of Def Jam, rapper Jay-Z.[22] Despite being skeptical about Rihanna, Jay-Z invited her to audition for the label.[23] In February 2005, she traveled to New York to audition for Jay-Z and industry executive L.A. Reid, performing Whitney Houston's version of "For the Love of You" and the original songs "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time".[21][24] To prevent her from potentially signing with another label, she was signed on the spot to a six-album record deal with Def Jam.[21][25]