Dame Dash Interview with Billboard

[Elano]

Dame recently sat for an interview with Billboard’s Mariel Concepcion and spoke about his co-sign of Jim Jones, 360 deals, how the recession is affecting the fashion industry and the affect that his cold war with Jay-Z has had on his career. Obviously, this was prior to Rachel serving him with those papers.

On the Jones album:

How will Jones’ album do?

I have no idea. I’m not out there like that. I’m in my house taking care of my kids. I meet Jimmy in the studio and I go to rehearsal, that’s it. But I’m not in the community like I used to be. I just know that good records sell. But I also know I don’t depend so much on record sales; I depend on the brand.


On 360 deals:

What do you think of 360 deals?

The 360 deals are smart for those who don’t have a brand set up yet. If you don’t have anything and you have someone that’s going to put $1 million or $2 million into building your brand, then they deserve a piece of it. But if you already have your following, then I wouldn’t do a 360 deal. It’s like the Cool Kids—they don’t need the record company. An artist has to look at it like this: If you can’t do it on your own, and you need the record company to do it for you, then you have to give up a piece. Get a record company only when you need it.

On the recession:

How has the recession affected your business strategy?

At this time, you have to generate a lot of things and make it within an affordable price point and you have to be better than everybody. I do see brands on every level that still do well. But everything just seems oversaturated and everyone is trying to make a buck. Everyone was trying to do the same thing, so the minute urban fashion got good, everyone had a clothing line. And the minute music got good, everyone started a label.

And finally, Dame had this to say about the aftermath of his split with Hov:

“It was like, either you are on his side or on mine,” he says. “And because of all that, there’s resistance on every level with me and the shit just bugs me out.”