DAMIZZA(December 2011) | Interview By:
Javon Adams
Top level radio exec, producer, artist, West Coast representer.
Damian ‘Damizza’ Young has worn many hats in the industry and Dubcnn sat
down with him to talk about his suddenly controversial book, Guilty by
Association which is set to be available for Free on
Damizzabook.com.
Javon explores the recent chatter that has been growing louder on the forums
about Damizza and the two talk about Mr. Young’s place in West Coast Hip
Hop. Does the criticism levied at him ever bother him? Damizza is an open
book and candid in this conversation.
He says that maybe you must have hate
in order to have love but irregardless of your preconceived notions you
should take a few minutes to get familiar with Damizza.
Dubcnn: Javon with Dubcnn.com…now I have the pleasure, the pleasure of
bringing you the one and only Damian Young, better known as Damizza. What’s
up man?
Damizza: Are you sure it’s a pleasure. (Laughs) Because I look at
the forums sometimes and I say, ‘Damn’. (laughs)
Dubcnn: Well, lets get it started and poppin’ right there. You have the book
coming up, Guilty by Association that is coming up December 14th. Now,
correct me if I’m wrong but it’s going to be on
Damizzabook.com but I
want to talk about that. Let’s talk about opinions and how folks form
opinions without getting the full story and just respond off of bits and
pieces of information. How frustrating is that for you?
Damizza: Well, let me say this…the reason why the book is for free is for
something that I read on www.dubcnn.com.
Dubcnn: Ok
Damizza: It was in one of the forums about the book and they said that I was
doing this to make money. They said that I was just doing it to make money
or something like that. And that’s when I decided to give it away for free.
Dubcnn: Ok
Damizza: So there is your effect. (laughs) I mean, that’s that truth of the
matter. It’s with anything. Life is like High School or the music business
is like High School bro. People like to gossip and that’s what they do. So
however its said or however I would have said it…no matter how I would have
said it…the Hip Hop sites are going to say it’s a Tell-All about Dr. Dre and
the Pop Sites are going to say it’s a Tell All on Mariah Carey. So f*#k it.
Dubcnn: Did you ever imagine that by just putting out a book and trying to
get your experiences out there that it cause so much, for lack of a better
term, a fire storm?
Damizza: Well, you know what, I didn’t because when I came back to Santa
Barbara and retired and all that kinda stuff I got (back into) being such a
regular person. (I wasn’t) around artists or anything like that…I was around
my little brother and my grandmother and my family and rarely had to deal
with the industry.
To me it was just kind of like a past life and I was just kind of telling a
story. But then I started to hear that some artists were mad and something
like that so (I was thinking), ‘dude, why would you be mad? Do you have
something to hide?’ Is there something that I would say to make you look
bad? Do I have that big of a voice? It’s weird
Dubcnn: Now when you say ‘big voice’…and without getting to much into what
we talked about off record but talk about…in retrospect…as you have
conversations with folks that you know and are in the industry or on the
periphery what you realize is your effect or the important role that you
played. Especially when it comes to a lot of the shaping of the West Coast
scene or really just your fingerprints on Hip Hop. Talk about your voice and
how that’s been brought up a little…
Damizza: You know what, I never really realized the impact. Dude, I mean
come on, I’m like every other Dubcnn fan. I’m on the forums and I’m a guest.
I watch everything and I watch how much sh*t everybody talks about me. They
say I’m one of the wackest rappers ever and I’m one of the worst producers
ever or whatever the heck it was and all that kind of stuff. So I believe
that sh*t. So when you do something like this and make a statement and say
‘this is who I think I am’ then its different. It’s weird, you know what I
mean?
Dubcnn: Right
Damizza: But, I mean, my fingerprints on Hip Hop…its almost…there are
days…I’m a human being and there are days I would like to reach through the
freaking computer and slap the sh*t out of some of the people on the forum
and say, ‘Motherfuc*&r, if it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t know what West
Coast Hip Hop was or is!’
Dubcnn: Right
Damizza: But there is the other humble side of me that goes, “Well, they
just don’t know.” You know what I mean? It’s a tear. You know what I mean?
Dubcnn: It seems to me, based off of once again without going into great
detail about some of the things we talked about …
Damizza: You know what dude? Javon, feel free to go into anything (because)
I’m an open book. I’m a real dude and if I feel uncomfortable I will tell
you.
Dubcnn: Ok
Damizza: You can say whatever you want bro.
Dubcnn: When you think of the hand that you played in some success of some
artists and how they either don’t acknowledge your input, help or
assistance…you said you are a human being so doesn’t that make you want to
say, “Hold on y’all. You can’t deny what I have been able to do. In whatever
percentage that might be but you can’t deny my impact or assistance on your
career.” Doesn’t that become frustrating?
Damizza: You know what? It does, but then like I said I’m a human being and
I don’t want those a**holes in my life anyway. If they don’t appreciate it
and they can’t call up on a Sunday and say thank you for the fact that I
just got a brand new Benz and something like that for something I did 10
years ago the forget it. I don’t need ‘em.
I’m most happy because I just got home and I see my darling, darling grandma
and the dog ran out (laughs) and that makes me happy playa. And one of my
best friends, who is a great rapper by the way and I did Crackin’ with him.
You know, those are things that I care about. Who cares if some 50 year old
rapper or 40 year or rapper or 30 year old rapper or hey, 21 year old rapper
that signs the 50 year old rapper that I put on (laughs). Do I really care
that they don’t call me on a Sunday? No, because I didn’t do it for them. I
did it because I’m a West Coast Hip Hop fan. That’s it. And I never asked
any of them for anything but a story or two. That’s the only thing I ever
asked any of them.
The story about Dr. Dre…(I said) you want me to break Eminem? Cool. Then
tell me the story of N.W.A. So do I care about whether they give me the
credit or not? No. Not really. But what does hurt my feelings, like anybody
else, is when some a**hole gets on the forum and starts calling me names
when they don’t even know you.
Dubcnn: Exactly. It’s the computer muscles. You have Twitter muscles, beer
muscles and forum muscles that go on.
Damizza: Yeah. You know what I’m sayin’? Look, if you want to say some
things about me I’m not hard to find. Look for me on facebook and whatever
whatever and if you want to ask me a question then feel free. But its
cool…and in hindsight you gotta have two. You gotta have hate to have love I
guess. And I just wish that some people, to answer your question more
thoroughly, I just wish that some people would take a step back and show a
little more respect to EVERY artist.
See, this is what people don’t realize in most forums about Dubcnn.
Dubcnn.com is one of the most powerful websites in the world when it
comes to Hip Hop. And let me tell you why. The story that I told the other
day about going to Dr. Dre’s studio…when I walked into Dre’s studio, his
assistant Mike Lem was open to the Dubcnn forum. Reading the Detox thread.
You see what I’m sayin’?
Half of the rappers on the West Coast have a fake name and are in those
forums. So why would we (artists) want to make more music? Why would we want
to be more positive if these a**holes are saying that everything we put out
is crap?
(Laughs)
And why would Dr. Dre put out Detox if it’s going to screw with his legacy?
You know what I mean? And if everybody is sitting there talking trash about
him…what kind of motivation is it to do those kind of things when all your
getting is trash talked? And from behind a computer. Nobody has the balls to
say it themselves.
Dubcnn: You mentioned motivation just a second ago and I want to ask
you…when it comes to…I want to break it down specifically West Coast. When
it comes to risk taking do you think that the West Coast has become to
formulaic and not willing to challenge themselves or do you think that there
are quality artists out there and they are just not being…not shining
through? What are your thoughts on that?
Damizza: Well there’s risks and there’s risks.
Dubcnn: Ok
Damizza: There’s penitentiary chances, like chances, job chances and it
depends on what you call a risk. A risk, to me, is walking into Dr. Dre’s
studio and saying, “You’re too much of a fuc*#ng perfectionist.” But the
reason why I do that is because I’m a Hip Hop fan. Because to me, what Hip
Hop is…it’s the most American thing in the world. Hip Hop is where you can
get on the top of a mountain and scream at the top of your lungs what you
believe in. And someone can be on the other (mountain) across the valley
from you screaming the exact opposite. And then you guys shake hands and you
go back to work. (laughs)
But there is no more of that. Now it’s, ‘You were talking sh*t, I’m going to
shoot you’. And that’s what the game has messed up. So chances…it’s like to
me? Chance? Nothin’, kill me. You know what I mean? But to a lot of these
Hip Hop fans, chances to them are just talking trash. Ok, great, instead of
talking trash why don’t you do something to better it. Why don’t you pick up
a pen and get out a piece of paper. Look up who the manager is or look up
how to get in touch or hit the facebook or tell them how you feel directly.
Don’t get with a bunch of other dudes talking trash on a forum.
Dubcnn: Right
Damizza: I mean, if you really feel that strongly.
Dubcnn: True indeed. That brings up a very valid point. I like that. So I
know we can go on and on. We are going to have to do a part two to this. You
know we are going to have to do that.
So once again let folks know where they can stay in touch with you.
Obviously where they can get the book and all that. The floor is yours. Last
words for Dubcnn.com
Damizza: The last words are, I’m sorry, you know I love the girls on the
forum…I mean the people on the forum. I want to thank you for the
entertainment. (laughs) I’m just kidding. I’m just giving them sh*t because
they give me sh*t. I enjoy seeing a lot of that kind of stuff. It just is
what it is. I make music for me and give to people because, you know,
whatever. And like the book, I give it away. It’s not even whatever
whatever. But you can get it at Damizzabook.com. You can find me on
Twitter. You can find me on face book under Damian Young. Um,
I’m around man.
Dubcnn: I appreciate the time man
Damizza: It’s always a pleasure talking to you dude. You’re a good dude.
