(AllHipHop News) Shawn “Jay Z” Carter’s run as president of Def Jam Recordings has been both praised and criticized. Under Jay Z’s leadership the company found success with Rihanna, Nas, Jeezy, Rick Ross, Ne-Yo, and others. However, some artists on the label complained President Carter spent too much time and money promoting himself rather than focusing on the roster.

[ALSO READ: Rihanna Joins Jay Z’s Roc Nation, But Still Connected To Def Jam]

Redman was at Def Jam during Jay Z’s turn as the top executive. The New Jersey emcee shared his thoughts on Hov’s tenure with Sway In The Morning.

“Jay was cool as hell up there. He definitely showed all the artists love as far as when we seen him. It was like he was going to try and do his best. I guess he really wanted to try to help the artists,” stated Redman. “It was kind of out of his hands, because they left him with a mess. Like Bush left Obama with a mess to clean up. So he couldn’t do too much.”

He continued before laughing, “I do know when I was going up there at Def Jam when Jay was up there, they had cheese and wine. It was like a wine fountain in there. Every Friday they were eating sushi, like $2,000 – $3,000 worth. And I needed promotion.”