Dear Jay Z,
I hope this letter finds you well, and why wouldn’t it? You’re Hov, the greatest rapper of all-time.
I’m not sure if you heard the news, but your former Roc-A-Fella protégé Beanie Sigel was released from prison yesterday after serving two years stemming from tax charges.
Now, I know things haven’t been all the way good between you and Beans — we all heard your line on Drake’s “Pound Cake” — but I also know seeing him free brought a smile to your face. No matter what you or any of your former Roc-A-Fella running mates have been through, you guys created a legacy that can’t be diminished. And that brings me to my next point.
Hov, I think it’s time to put the band back together. Listen, I’m not expecting Roc-A-Fella 2.0; that time has passed and it’ll be damn-near impossible to recapture that magic. Still, I do believe the time is right for a Roc-A-Fella reunion tour.
Yes, I know you’re currently On the Run with wifey, but hear me out. You and Dame Dash are both hustlers at heart and the crowds you would draw to see the Roc back together would surely bring in enough paper for everybody. Enough paper to put aside whatever differences for one last summer run.
The line-up would be epic: Jay Z, Kanye West, Beanie Sigel, State Property, Memphis Bleek, Cam’ron and the Diplomats; Clue can DJ, Pain in da Ass can be the host and Just Blaze and Guru can play co-musical directors.
When you add up ticket sales, sponsorship, plus merch — it’ll be one sweet score. Everyone eats, and you can even chunk off a piece to send Roc co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke and help him and his family while he’s locked up.
More important than the money, however, is the closure that a Roc reunion tour would give us fans.
Honestly, when you and Dame split the dynasty in 2004, it was devastating. There was a culture that revolved being a Roc fan, there was slang that we used (we still say “pause”), a uniform that we wore (throwbacks are back now) and a code that we lived by. Back when you, Dame and Biggs first started the company, running through clubs in New York City, you guys said you weren’t just giving us records, you were presenting a lifestyle. Well, it worked, we fully adopted it.
Roc fans weren’t just Hov fans, we can spit the lyrics from Sigel’s The Truth album word for word, we play the Young Gunz’s “No Better Love” for wifey on Valentines Day and no matter what the world says we all know Memphis Bleek’s The Understanding is damn-near classic. Hell, we even bought Amil’s album.
If you still need more convincing, might I remind you that next summer will mark the 20th anniversary of when you put out your independent “In My Lifetime” single with Payday and basically started the Roc. I still remember buying the vinyl from a record store we used to go to on Flatbush Avenue, off of Beverly Road in Brooklyn.
A reunion tour is a brilliant idea, shows will sell out, the press will eat it up (trust me, I know), I’m sure we’ll get some new collaborations and it will set your former artists up to sign new record deals.
Listen Hov, you can front if you want, but in your heart, you know it’s an incredible idea. What do you say? Let us all put our diamonds in the sky one last time.
Sincerely Yours,
Rob Markman
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