"My Rims So Big, I Fucked My Allignment Up"

As the only contributor to this site from the area affectionately known as The Yay (that's Northern California to all you squares), I'm sure you're all expecting me to put up some retarded post about how E-40 is better than Rakim, or some other dumb shit along those lines. Well my friends, in good time. For now though, I've got bigger fish to fry. Tomorrow will mark 4 weeks since Redman released his sixth solo joint, Red Gone Wild: Thee Album, and I have yet to see this video on MTV Jams. And believe me yo, I watch a lot of that shit. I could understand this lack of exposure if Red was on an indie, but he's on fucking DEF JAM, the biggest hip-hop label in the game. And yet, there has been absolutely no promotion for Red's new album, just like there was no promotion for albums by the Roots and Method Man (also Def Jam artists) last year. So what the fuck is going on? Why does a label that promotes itself as a juggernaut in the industry, and one to which rappers still flock in hopes of commercial success, continue to shit on its most established artists?
Sadly, the only explanation I can come up with is that albums like Red Gone Wild are simply seen as tax write-offs by a company that believes its old roster is unmarketable. I guess we should be happy that the label is at least releasing this shit instead of letting it sit in the vault (whaddup Dre), but it's still pretty damn frustrating. Especially when Def Jam will throw millions into building the careers of people like Young Jeezy and this fat fuck. And then, of course, there's the issue of conflict of interest. Method Man, ?uestlove and LL Cool J have all expressed dissatisfaction with "President Hov," and really no one can blame them. After all, he pushed the painfully bad Kingdom Come to platinum status last year, proving once and for all that the right amount of push will sell anything. So why not do the same for other Def Jam releases?! Shit, well, you tell me. All I can say is that I'm profoundly disappointed with Hov's tenure as Pres, and I think he needs to get the fuck out before he ruins his own career along with Redman's (I mean shit, dude used to be my favorite rapper, and here I am bitching him out.) If Koch records can push Jim Jones to 300,000 plus, there is no excuse for Method Man selling so poorly (He was in the fucking Wu-Tang Clan, for God's sake.) The same goes for Redman, The Roots, and even Ghostface. In this case, we've got to blame the label. And, sadly, Mr. Shawn Carter.

It's not like any of us can really reverse these trends, but I do encourage you to check out Red's new album nonetheless. Yes, that means paying for it. As a longtime fan, I can truly say it's some of his best work, and if you like your rappers to be men of the people--rather than blinged out Black Republicans--you couldn't find a better man. After all, this is how he lives.

Bonus: Great Redman interview from The Onion AV Club.