A recent Observer New York feature profiling 38-year-old ex-hip hop mogul Damon Dash was titled “The Wannabe Warhol”. The Harlem hustler is building a new collective in New York that is a far cry from the Roc-A-Fella days, the label he infamously co-founded in 1995 with Jay-Z and Kareem Biggs, an empire that would net him an estimated wealth close to $100 million. His split from Jay-Z (and their Russian investors), Roc-A-Fella, Roc-A-Wear, his ex-wife model and designer Rachel Roy and their own fashion company fortunes left Dash with a public beat down and the need to reinvent himself for 2010.

Embracing independent creativity, Dame’s all-encompassing arts space on 172 Duane Street in Tribeca does have a slight Warholian ethos, it’s a flop house for artists, musicians, producers, skateboarders and filmmakers. When Dazed Digital spent a day hanging with Dame Dash at DD172 the downstairs gallery was recovering from an opening party for artists Graham Gilmore and Jeremy Wagner. In a strange pairing the underground Mic Manipulator Edan was jamming with Jay-Z / Reasonable Doubt producer Ski in the basement studio. Dash’s online TV network Creative Control was upstairs premiering a rough cut of the haunting new Gil Scott Heron music video, whilst his next rap prodigy Curren$y was swaggering about helping himself to the Vitamin Water. Fashion designer Christopher Bevans was working in the office and Dame was signing off the latest issue of his magazine, America. Dash calls it the 24 Hour Karate Club and its environment the birthplace for Blak Roc, his brilliant comeback record featuring bluesy garage rockers The Black Keys and the RZA, Mos Def and Jim Jones on the mic.

Dazed Digital: What were your fondest memories growing up in Harlem?
Damon Dash: Shit, I had so many. Harlem defined my business, my aesthetic, my swagger, the way I carry myself and the way I carry other people. I was a real participant of Harlem. I remember roller-skating at the rink, The Apollo on Wednesdays, amateur night, everyone went. We just needed an event to get dressed up and be fly. I would throw parties at the Cotton Club, we had a crew called The Best Out. Roc-A-Fella was adapted from The Best Out, we used to give the first 100 girls a bottle of champagne, it wasn’t about making money, it was about having fun.

DD: What’s the deal with the Blak Roc project?
Damon Dash: I’m going to tell you a story. Birthdays to me are very important. It was Raquel’s birthday (who works with me) and they were going to The Black Keys concert. I was like, what the fuck you going to a concert and I’m not invited? They said it was sold out. I was like, who are these Black Keys that you all played me for? I started to listen to them and it became my theme music. I became a fan. Not in a business way but a genuine – I wonder what they do every day? – fan. I was like, yo, find them.

DD: Then you hooked up Mos?
DD: I ran into Mos Def in my neighbourhood in Tribeca. I think he has a time machine – he was doing something with Elvis or some shit. He knew The Black Keys and was excited to get in the studio. We opened it up. I called RZA, me and him have the same barber in LA… Raekwon, Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip…

DD: This is your new independence?
Damon Dash: We did this very indie. We pressed up the records, shipped them ourselves, we didn’t pay radio or press, it’s been very organic. It was the least traumatising experience I’ve had in the whole music business and one of the most impacting things I’ve ever done.

DD: How about your work with the fashion world?
Damon Dash: I left music to do high fashion with Rachel Roy my wife, soon to be ex. I just sold half of that to Jones New York which is a five billion dollar company. I don’t have to watch that shit no more. I have to get back to what i was good at – music.

DD: And DD172 is the return?
Damon Dash: I got a black belt in music. Roc-A-Fella. I don’t really have to speak on that. The last person I signed before the Blak Roc was Kanye. And movies I got a blue belt. I haven’t got that Oscar yet, but I’ve worked with Oscar winners and shit like that. With that said, in this building we do the music, merch, videos, websites, books, magazines, we got the gallery, we do the radio stations – everything. And we still making movies. I’m making a documentary with Mos on the black punk rock group from the 70’s called Death. We call it the 24-hour Karate School, because it never closes, you have artists, skateboarders, filmmakers, all under the same roof.

DD: You built one of the biggest empires in hip hop, how do you approach what you do now?
Damon Dash: The last year was the public beat down. They were fucking with me everyday. But it’s cool, the best thing is when a champ gets knocked down and gets back up. I had to completely start a new. No Roc-A-Fella helping any of this. It’s interesting to see how people carry you when they’re thinking you’re not who you were. There’s got to be love. You can’t work with somebody despite the fact that the way that you don’t agree with the way they act just to make money. Quality of living means more to me than anything.

DD: You’ve taken risks throughout your career, in 2010 will you continue to do this?
Damon Dash: You got to. There is no business model that existed before the recession that can be relevant now. Nobody saw this coming, that means that everybody has to change and also everybody is broke. This is when fortunes are made. Everyone is holding their last, they’re scared, I’m putting my last on the street. This is the time to gamble all of it. You get rich now, you stay rich for the next 30 years.

“I coax rhythm w/ deep incisions to leave mute, decibel destruction speech loots receive & regroup. We the coup! cocoon open anthem, martyr in sky harder coaxed than the token tantrum notice the motive at random, lotus in the gander.”

The KDU recently took over creative direction for URB Magazine. This is the results of the beautiful aesthetics. Aerosyn-Lex Mestrovic of Nontype handles the girth of editorial, and does a fine job w/ the typography. Many other member works are scattered throughout ie. Black-Marmalade & MWM Graphics. Get one.

Complex: You recently did a fashion shoot with us where you wore a lot of bright colors. There was a lot of shit talking about it on the Internet, saying that you were dressed like Kanye. Why do you think they made such a big deal about it?

Nas: The whole point was to just have fun. That’s not how I dress, but for a magazine spread, it’s out there to be fun. You know, Kanye has fun with his style, and it’s just me having fun with his style. It’s like borrowing Rick Ross’s chain, and taking off my shirt for a shoot. You know what I mean?

Complex: Were you comfortable in those ensembles?

Nas: Yeah, I mean I don’t dress that way. I like clothes, I like fashion, I like that people like fashion. And Kanye is definitely a fashionable dude. He has his own way to express himself with clothes that stand out from everybody. So I thought it would be cool, not to make fun of it but just to have fun, and go in that zone for just that spread. I always do what I do, so I just wanted to change it up a little bit. Get people talking shit, so it’s cool.

Complex: Last week it was reported you inked a deal with Fila, and you also signed with 310 Footwear like a year ago—two relatively small brands when compared to Nike and Adidas. Why do you think these types of companies are targeting you?

Nas: I don’t think they are targeting me; it’s just certain places I land at certain times. I don’t do like, trillion-dollar brands. Cause there’s too much control on their part. Fila has just been a brand amongst the dudes with paper, so I mean, in ’86, ’87, it’s been that brand. It was the Gucci; it was that top of the line. It was the uniform for major players back in ’87, ‘88, ’89. It has been going for a long time so I felt like if I got with them, and we brought that back out, that would be a dream come true to me to be apart of that.

Complex: How in-tuned are you with the Internet. Do you read blogs?

Nas: No, I never do.

Complex: Never?

Nas: I don’t have to because I’m in the world. Everybody tells me what is there and what’s said.

Complex: Okay. How do you think being in an economic recession will affect the next generation of rappers? Will there be the same focus on material wealth?

Nas: In the Great Depression in the ’30s, the numbers racking in the black community helped the Italian mafia survive and they thought it was just pennies. The penny business in Chicago, Ed Jones, cats like that, created a huge enterprise that paved the way for street guys to maintain, to open up clubs and pay Duke Ellington so he can buy outfits and cars and fly all over the world.

Complex: Right

Nas: They made it happen in the ’30s. They made it happen in the ’40s. And it was worse times than now. That’s the recipe of a hustler, hard times. There will be fewer artists able to get their glow on and shit. That’s how it’ll be I think. And overall, the ice got out of control. There are so many people wearing fake necklaces, fake watches. And watch brands that are really just all about hood flashing. It’s hard for me when I want to wear a classy watch with diamonds on it. We need a break from the diamonds now, maybe. Because everyone is taking it to the next level. Too much of anything is going to get played out anyway. You may not even need to have all those materialistic things in a year.

Complex: Kanye says that you are the greatest rapper of all time. How does it make you feel when people call Lil’ Wayne the best rapper alive?

Nas: Oh man, good. I only feel weird when you’re saying that about me. I think Kanye West saved rap. I think Lil’ Wayne is showing there is a future for all kinds of artists to continue doing this. You know, I love it.

Complex: Who in the game still excites you?

Nas: Kanye, OutKast, Eminem.

Complex: Is this your last album?

Nas: This is definitely not my last album. I’m going to do this shit until I’m 70, until I can’t fucking talk.

Complex: How many more albums do you have on Def Jam?

Nas: That, I don’t know.

Complex: Given your strong fan base, would you ever think of going the independent route?

Nas: Oh, hell yeah. That’s like, you know, a no-brainer. That’s what my wife thought; she was trying to get off her label forever. She got out and she’s doing her own thing. That’s exactly what I been thinking about a lot too.

Complex: Looking back at the whole album title debacle, would you have just named it something else if you could do it over again?

Nas: No, it’s all good man. It’s what it’s all about. Getting people talking, getting people thinking. Rap dudes are serious dudes—most of us, man. And when it comes to the voice we got, knowing we got this outlet to reach mad people, that’s what I’m here for. At least in 2008, right here, it’s about being a part of a conversation to point out the hypocrites.

Complex: Would you ever think of making your next title something controversial?

Nas: Nah, no. It has to be real, has to be me. I think the Hip Hop Is Dead and the N*gger album, they were for that time. And it’s moving on now. I mean, I don’t even know what is controversial anymore because I can think of a next title for my next album, and it may mean a lot to me. People may think it’s a controversial title, but it’s really what I’m feeling. I’m not going to make the title less controversial because it’s going to offend people.

Complex: It was recently reported that you scrapped your reality show because you felt you and Kelis were too boring. What has to happen for you guys to revisit that idea?

Nas: [Laughs] Well, I don’t think she’s boring. I think I was too boring to watch at home. I feel like when you watch the reality guys, they got people who were amazing people like 30 years ago. It doesn’t give you the same effect with us. I grew up a Hulk Hogan fan and to look inside his home is just amazing to me. I mean, cause I’m a grown man, 27 years later. We’re only in the middle of it.

big brother is watching. ‘maybe they can catch that other kid that stole my coat and house keys…we got the one, but the other is lost’

“Sly Fox” – Nasir Godson Jones [download]

“watch what you watchin.” -nas

via: Dazed Digital

Dazed Digital: Are you excited about coming over to play at Fabric?
Lee Scratch Perry: Of course! It will be a pleasure. We have new songs and old songs. We change the words sometimes from an old melody and sing a different part to bring out the vibration. We make old things new and new things old. We do magic. I believe in what I sow. I’m going to sow the good seed and the good seed I sow is what I expect to reap. What I give I get.

DD: Have you ever sowed a bad seed?
LSP: I know that people are wise to the fact that I created dub music and I created the changes from ska to rock steady into reggae – that is my payment and I’m glad for that even though I didn’t get the big bag of money. I wasn’t here to get the big bag of money I was here to present God’s holy work, or something like that.

DD: Do you like modern dance music?
LSP: The young people end up dancing like they’re having sex. It’s not too respectful to dress like a whore girl and dance like you’re in bed. That’s not all. If you have sex too much you can dry out. You want to save yourself. God wants the poor and native people to have sex but there is a time for sex and a time for God.

DD: What’s more important sex or God?
LSP: God because he’s the lifeline – you can sex out your lifeline and you’ll complain and he’ll let you die. Don’t sex out your lifeline.

DD: Are you romantic Lee?
LSP: Of course I am! If a girl likes me in the dance she can come and see me backstage. If she wants to come backstage she can come right in front of me when I’m onstage.

DD: What would your wife think about that?
LSP: I show a lot of respect to my wife but I also have to respect my fans. My fans have real love for me and I cannot turn my back on them because of my wife being jealous.

DD: Do you still get a lot of groupies?
LSP: A lot of meat and lots of beef. Uh huh. I get a lot of presents. I get a lot of love, unity, peace and harmony. That is greater than money.

DD: Do you see yourself as a joker?
LSP: Not like the real type of joker who makes jokes, I’m above joker, but I do things to make people laugh. Instead of making people sad I try to find a way of making them laugh. It’s good for them to enjoy what you’re saying like a big comedian – but it’s reality.

DD: A defining point in your career was burning down the Black Arc Studios – do you regret doing that? LSP: Naaaah. It wasn’t hard to do it. I would have to support vampires all the time. I wanted to change my heart but I didn’t know the difference between the rude bwoys and the bad bwoys. I had too much evil sprit coming into my studio. When you have too much evil spirit the only way to get rid of them was to burn down that place. You purify it and get rid of the guppies and get rid of the beggars and get rid of the evil spirits. Re-incarnation.

DD: Was this a message from God?
LSP: When I go to bed in bed at night there’s only my body in my bed, but my spirit flies out of my body to a land they call dreamland. When I’m in dreamland, the street that takes me to dreamland show me everything, it lets me know what I’m going to do when I wake up in the morning. So when I wake up in the morning it’s not a surprise because dreamland showed me the beginning of the day from the night before.
DD: What did you dream about last night?
LSP: Last night I dreamed that I was seeing one of my baby mothers in Jamaica. She was making plans about how to get back to me because she had run out of money and she had discovered that I was the inheritor of the pound, shilling and pence. She had run out of money and thought that God was punishing her. Her name was Pauline, and Pauline didn’t have no more money so she was planning on how to get back into my life. To stop that happening I will have to pretend to be God.

DD: How can you pretend to be God?
LSP: I’ll have to call judgement and deliver judgement myself. I will have to say, “You have lost the chance to be with me, you’re too late and there’s nothing that I can do. The date is over. The door has been closed. There’s nothing that I can do for you.”

DD: Are you still scared of vampires?
LSP: Why am I scared? I deal with them in my sleep, in dreamland before the sun rises. Vampires live in the flesh here but their spirits are dead and their bodies are dead – they jump into other people and change them into negative beings. They get coke addicted, rum addicted, wine addicted, and get them nicotine addicted. I was smoking cigarettes a lot – I was almost addicted to cigarettes. I was addicted to rum and wine. When I burnt down the Arc I made myself over, I conquered those vampires.

DD: If you had to save just one animal from extinction which one would it be?
LSP: I would save the white dove! Noah sent out two birds and the first was a black raven, but the black raven did not come back. The black raven saw dead meat and ate dead meat, which means that the black raven was a cannibal. He sent out the dove and the dove comes back, it doesn’t eat dead meat.

DD: When did you last do drugs?
LSP: Well honestly a lot of people say that I take drugs, people want to know where I get my energy from so they think that I take drugs. But I don’t take drugs.

DD: Did you leave Jamaica because it was so violent?
LSP: Well yes, the people. If you are too soft in Jamaica you’re going to be in bad trouble. You have to act like you’re badder and tougher than them to survive. If you don’t act like you’re badder and tougher than them you won’t survive. You need to act crazy to survive.

DD: What do you say when people call you mad? You don’t seem that mad to me.
LSP: Naaah. People who are intelligent – I know how to deal with intelligent people. People who are cannibals – I know how to deal with cannibals. I know how to deal with rebels and I know how to deal with devils. I know how to deal with righteous people and I know to deal with God. I have everything here.

DD: What is the essence of dub music?
LSP: Well dub music is like creating a building. It’s an experiment. If you take the wrong musicians to the studio it can be a disaster. Everyone argues. They think they just come to finish the job, wham bam finish the record. But when you make the dub and take three great musicians to the studio you listen to what they do and then you think about what needs to be done and what you’d like to hear.

DD: What are you listening to at the moment?
LSP: I love soul music. Otis Redding, Ben E King, Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Al Green. Soul music to me is like a spiritual vibration. You can make reggae but the inspiration is from soul music. I also like hip hop. I like Snoop Dogg because he sings and raps. I like Xzibit too because he pimp ride. I like Dr Dre too.

DD: You wear a lot of mirrors on your clothes – what do you see when you look in the mirror?
LSP: I am communicating like the water because the water is a mirror. The water was the first mirror. If you go into your bathroom and you turn on the light, you might not see yourself in the water. But you have a shadow and your shadow is your spirit. You may not see this shadow in the water.

DD: What does Michael Jackson see when he looks in the mirror?
LSP: When Michael Jackson sees the man in the mirror he starts to complain about his nose – that it’s not pretty. So he talks to the man in the mirror and the man in the mirror says that he has to change his ways but I think he thought the man in the mirror said to change his nose.

DD: Do you like his nose?
LSP: I don’t like his new nose, I like his first nose much better. He looked into the mirror and now he looks like a phantom. Hahahahaa. It was a magic mirror!

DD: Before you go Lee I need to know something very important – what is the key to making a good jerk chicken sauce?
LSP: Hahahahaaa. Honestly? When I was in Jamaica and didn’t have much understanding of different forms of life, chicken used to be my favourite. I used to eat them. When I left Jamaica I found the notion that man should not kill. So why should I eat what other people kill? After you murder the chicken you eat the chicken so that cannot be a blessing – that has to be a curse!

DD: So no more jerk chicken for me?
LSP: No, we shouldn’t kill none of the animals because they were here before us. And we should not eat them because we will change into cannibals.

DD: Right. One last question Lee. Bass – how low can you go?
LSP: How low can I go? I will go so low that I will tell my shit it stinks, even though it fed me when I was hungry.

DD: Well, thanks Lee, see you in the dance.
LSP: Alright. Enjoy yourself.

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