Who is Mr. Mel Smith, V.P. of Promotions at Cash Money Records
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 05:10PM Some men and women are blessed with unparalleled athletic abilities, and from that ability an undying love of sport develops. Others are blessed with God-given, innate artistic talents that inspire the masses. Mel Smith, one of the most esteemed professionals in the music business, was blessed with an ingeniously analytic ear for music and an acumen for business that is rivaled only by an elite few. One can comfortably argue that Mel Smith played an integral role in breaking an awe-inspiring number of A-list acts and in selling over 100 Million records worldwide.
At the innocent age of 8 years old, Mel Smith developed what would grow to become an abiding love of music and musical performance. In the truest sense of Cool James’ “ I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” the youthful Smith toted a record player tucked underneath his arm and would offer to play records for anyone who would lend a generous ear. This elementary love ignited into and adolescent passion as he began DJing at his high school and for all the local block-parties in and around the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. This inevitably led to a gig in the stock room in the once internationally known music retailer Sam Goody's. Smith swiftly escalated from the stock room to Cashier and from Cashier to Assistant Manager. As a direct result of his diligence, that very same Sam Goody’s was rated the "#2" store in America a short time after his joining the team.
Retail sales were not the destiny of Mel Smith. In the Late 1980’s, Smith became the National Director of Promotion for Jive Records. In this capacity, he is credited with breaking artists such as DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (Will Smith). Mel promoted the duo’s smashingly successful album Parents Just Don't Understand: the first rap album to sell over 4 million copies. Working under the Jive label, Smith was afforded the opportunity to also break A Tribe Called Quest, Too Short, D-Nice, Kool Moe Dee, Boogie Down Productions, Rick Astley (sold over 2 million records in the US), Marcus Roberts (promoted his debut album which rose to #1 on the Billboard Jazz charts), Jonathan Butler (promoted his groundbreaking album Introducing Jonathan Butler to Double-Platinum status), and Billy Ocean…to name a few.
Smith was determined to avoid complacency, so he departed from a comfortable position at Jive to head south and become the Senior Director of Promotions for Indie Rap label Rap-A-lot Records. There, he broke barriers by promoting the first Southern act to hit Double-Platinum status and acquainted the world with real southern rap by introducing the Geto Boys as well as the legendary Scarface.
After two years at Rap-A-Lot, while back home in NY on vacation during a visit to a friend's office, Smith became enraptured by an authentic voice that he would later assist in introducing to the world: that voice was Ms. Mary J Blige. By promoting her groundbreaking debut album, What's the 411, which produced four #1 singles and sold 5 million copies, Smith thereby helped to establish Blige as the Queen of Hip Hop Soul. He left Rap-A-Lot to join Uptown Records as the National Director of Promotion. There, Smith helped to develop and break the then up-and-coming stars Jodeci, Christopher Williams, and Heavy D.
While working at Uptown, he met another young man who had a similar ear and shared his love for music. This young man, Sean Puffy Combs, would shape the 90's and build the music powerhouse Bad Boy Entertainment. When Combs’ left Uptown to start Bad Boy, he asked Smith to come along and help start a dynasty. Smith indulged Combs’ vision, and together they went forward to break The Notorious BIG by promoting his debut album Ready To Die which sold 5.1 million copies and was ranked in the Greatest 500 albums of all time by the Rolling Stone Magazine. With this, along with several other praiseworthy releases that Smith touched, The Bad Boy Empire was born.
After almost 11 years at Bad Boy, as the Sr. VP of Promotions, Smith received a call from Cash Money Records CEO, Ronald "Slim" Williams. During his first meeting with Slim, there was a particular record that caught his attention-- Lil Wayne's "Hustler Musik". In 2005, he reintroduced the world to Lil Wayne via promotions of The Carter 2 which sold 1 million copies and The Carter 3 which yielded record breaking sales of 1 million in one week. He has also had a major role in breaking raps newest sensations both Drake and Nicki Minaj.
Mel Smith is a monumental muse for the music industry, and his vision is fodder and foundation for his chart-topping efforts as well as the efforts of many of those around him. Smith is a counselor and confidant, a tastemaker and trailblazer. His success has helped him follow through on his vow to give back to the community that is the cradle of his genius. Smith continues to add to his ever-growing list of accomplishments, all the while humbly giving the glory to God. “Had it not been for the love of God…I may have never been blessed with the opportunities to cultivate my deep love of music and for the creative minds behind it.” –Mel Smith
