Aretha Franklin -- My Family Members Need Record Deals

It's Aretha Franklin's birthday, and if you wanna make the Queen of Soul happy all you gotta do is sign her son to a record deal ... and her grandson ... and her granddaughter.

The now 72-year old diva was on her way out of her private party in NYC at the Ritz ... and Aretha knew exactly what she wanted when our photog asked what would be her ideal b-day gift.

Denzel Washington attended the event to surprise the singer -- same goes for her buddies Clive Davis, Andre 3000 and Babyface.

Victorie Franklin -- Aretha's granddaughter -- performed at the BET Honors concert paying tribute to the legendary diva -- and she's pretty damn good.