Dear President Carter...

Now as impressive as that information is, it does not even take into account his countless collaborations, which include a great number of hits, remix hits and songs that he has ripped to shreds with his verses. We are all well aware this has been his M.O. since day one. Remember his verse on the remix to Kriss Kross’s “Tonight’s The Night” or 2Pac’s “Got My Mind Made Up?” How about Jodeci’s “You Got It” or Montell Jordan’s “Something 4 The Honies” Remix?

But I don’t want to talk about the past per se. I just want to use it as a basis for the present. I know the music biz is a “what have you done for me lately” type industry if there ever was one. So what I am going to talk to you about is what Redman has done lately, and how you, Mr. Carter, as president of the label which Reggie Noble has contributed to the success of for the past decade and a half, could do to assist him in achieving his optimum level of success at this juncture in the Hip-Hop timeline…that is if you actually WANT one of your “peers” to be successful in 2007 rather than giving the impression that you have to come out of retirement to “save” Hip-Hop…”Jay-Hova.”

Do you actually want to generate revenue for your label with another veteran MC in the spotlight? Would you really like to take another step in becoming “Hip-Hop’s Savior” like you (or was that Dame) did when you helped Kanye get out into the forefront? Or is that just empty rhetoric used to fill up bars in your verses. As one of my staff members stated, "Is Def Jam the new Bad Boy?" Does Jay-Z = Puffy = caring more about his own image and music than the artists on his label? Let’s find out.

The following is a marketing scenario that I have devised which can’t cost more than…let’s say $150,000 total IF DONE CORRECTLY, for the upcoming release of Redman’s album, “Red Gone Wild.”

In case you were unaware, Redman has recently released a mixtape with DJ Scoob Doo entitled “Live from the Bricks.” I will not get into how he basically ripped every song that he appears on. I mean, when hasn’t he done that in his entire career?? But I will point out that on the first song, also entitled “Live from the Bricks”, he states the following:

“Any conversation of rap, I’m in it
I stay on n!ggas minds like ball cap fitteds
About my business
Call on the man
You damn right I put the Def back in the Jam
I ain’t gon talk about what Jay ain’t doing
I K.I.M. the problem…Keep It Moving”

Well, Reggie may not want to talk about it, but I am going to talk about what you could do for one of your most deserving artists, Mr. President.

Track #8 on this “Live from the Bricks” mixtape is entitled “Brick City Champion”, and it just so happens that Redman chose the instrumental to your current hit song “Lost Ones.” As we’ve already established, he rips the track as is par for the course. But as I was listening to it, an epiphany came to me. ”Jay should take this verse and make a remix featuring Red for “Lost Ones” and put it out in anticipation of Red’s album release.”

Ummm...how hard is that?? Not only is it your song as an artist, but you are also the president of the label. You don’t have clear it with anyone! Red is also on the label and therefore there is no label red tape AT ALL to go through. Just put it out! In fact, I already made it. You can use this one if you like…

Jay-Z ft. Redman - Lost Ones (Remix)

Now, if I could truly orchestrate this whole thing, I would suggest you throwing a new verse on the beat real quick, which shouldn’t take long since you don’t write anything down. Talk about Brooklyn to match up with Red talking about Newark, and email it to Funk Flex to play tonight for a half hour straight with 300 bombs dropped on it. Send it out to the rest of radio the next morning and it will be the #1 requested song in a matter of hours. You’ll have “the internet going nuts” as well. Trust me.

(As of now, I don’t think I’ve cost you very much money if, any at all.)

So now to the only real cost…The Remix Video. But here’s the thing. It should not be some big budget monstrosity. Have your secretary send an office-wide email inquiring if there are any wannabe video directors/film students around the office. I’m sure there are 10 people in various cubes surfing the web right now that could do it with 2 cameras and a Macbook. Get someone with some short film experience and give them this…I even storyboarded the joint for you:

(Shot in all black and white)

Nothing too crazy; just an homage to the city and the classic “Tonight’s Da Night” video.

Now in my opinion, that’s a very cheap video to shoot; probably closer to $50,000 if done exquisitely, but I tried to be conservative.

So the question you may be asking is “why should I do all of this?” Well, because it makes good business sense. You know better than anyone how well a co-sign from artists like you can affect someone’s career (Bleek and Tiara Marie withstanding). Redman already has respect and a fan base 15 years in the making. All this little “cosign” from you would do is put him into the spotlight in a much more effective way than any hot single off his album could do. If it can work for lesser artists like Rick Ross and Young Jeezy, imagine what it could to for Redman!

Here’s another quick one. The track before the aforementioned “Brick City Champion”, entitled “Yes Sir” has Redman rhyming over Justin Timberlake’s “My Love.” In my opinion, his second verse is a great rhyme suited to commercial radio. Check out this version of the song with Red’s verse included:

Justin Timberlake ft. Redman - My Love (Remix)

“…What it do?
Young MC, I “Bust a Move”
I’m comfortable
Doctor Evil come for you
With Mini-Me and Number 2…”

Come on, man. It ain’t that hard. Make a call. Send Timberlake’s people the MP3. Shoot a remix vid in a club setting. Let Red tear down the track. He’s gonna do that foot-slide dance at the end with JT just to clown. That’s how he is. He is going to have fun with all this and that is exactly what Hip-Hop is missing…FUN.

If those two remixes came out before his album, he’s guaranteed at least gold with a decent first single…”money in the bank” so to speak.

Redman has earned the right to not be some random artist tossed to the side with no decent setup or promotion of his album (see: Method Man). If handled correctly, he can still be a major force on the Def Jam roster. I am tired of seeing quality artists get hung out to dry because of bonehead marketing and promotion, or even worse, a complete lack of both. There is no reason why Red should not outsell Jibbs or Mims or whatever other fly-by-night garbage rapper the industry tries to force us and our children into liking.

So please Mr. Carter, I implore you to take a step in the right direction. As Track #9 on EPMD’s “Business As Usual” album states, “Give the People What They Want.”

Sincerely,

Gerald Alston