VP Records joins forces with Celebrity Apprentice to give back to charity as the company purchases US$7,000 worth of items at an art auction during the show's 'The Art of the Deal' episode, which aired on April 3 on NBC.

The label's CEO Christopher Chin, President Randy Chin and Vice-President Cristy Barber participated in the auction to help raise money for Celebrity Apprentice contestant John Rich (of acclaimed country music group Big & Rich), to benefit his charity, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, based in Memphis, Tennessee.

The label bought Gary Busey's painting for $5,000, a sale Busey personally brokered with the label's heads, as seen in the episode.

The painting now hangs in the VP Records boardroom in New York. Additionally, Barber purchased Richard Hatch's final painting for US$1,000 to help the men's team, Backbone, sell every painting in their auction. She also nabbed a New Era baseball hat, artistically decorated by John Rich. The hat was donated to Rich's young son, Cash.

This Celebrity Apprentice involvement materialised because of the partnership between Cristy Barber and John Rich, who have teamed up for a trailblazing project where the name says it all - Reggae's Gone Country. The highly-anticipated compilation album features various artistes from both reggae and country music and is scheduled for release this summer as a joint venture between VP Records and Rich's label, Warner Brothers Nashville.

Barber produced the Grammy-nominated Def Jamaica, a star-studded meeting of the minds from Def Jam's hip-hop roster and Jamaican dancehall music, back in 2003. Now with this unprecedented fusion of reggae and country music from some of its biggest producers and stars, she is again seeking to make inroads and bring the reggae genre to a new fan base, and perhaps the largest musical audience whose ears give country music its powerful backbone.

"Classic country music is very big in Jamaica, which is what influenced me to do this project of having reggae artists cover classic country songs," revealed Barber in a release sent to The STAR. "It was natural to go to my friend John Rich, whom I have known for six years, to be my partner in this dream project."