A Harpenden musician thinks he might be “on the cusp of something big” after discovering that Jay-Z had been listening to his music on his iPod.

Luke Pickett, 27, formerly a pupil at Sir John Lawes School in Harpenden, was recently flown to New York where he met associates from the veteran rap star’s label, Roc Nation.

He said: “Between them contacting me, and me being in New York, there was only about a day and a half.

“It was great – a little weird – but great. They said they liked my music and said they would stay in touch

“To know your music is on one of the most famous artists in the world’s iPod is crazy.”

Luke went on: “I’ve done a few trips to the US; I recently got back from Canada where I was bitten by a tsetse fly and got Lyme disease but it was good to be able to try and write some songs.”

Harpenden born and bred Luke has been making music for over a decade and it shows.

The polished pop maturity of his newer tracks belie the fact that not only is he still in his twenties but began life as a guitar-led singer-songwriter.

Today his music blends the experimental high-production sounds akin to the XX with catchy pop hooks that wouldn’t sounds out of place on a Backstreet Boys album from 1998.

He explained: “It’s been quite a natural progression.

“When I used to play gigs with just a guitar, that’s what everyone else was doing so I thought, ‘how can I be more creative?’”

Luke studied music technology at university, where he began collaborating with the producer Paul Carter, know as Benbrick.

He said: “It’s weird hearing you call him that – I only know him as Paul. We’re good mates and we work really well together - he’ll hopefully be producing my album this year.”

Luke will be touring and writing this year with a view to releasing an album early in 2016.