You sound smart to somebody dumb – Dame Dash to DJ Envy…..
Damon Dash done shook the table! He caused an uproar on social media with his interview on The Breakfast Club morning show ,which aired last Friday. Dame came to the interview accompanied by his mentor from his street days, OG Daniel, and his friend and battle rapper, Murda Mook. The interview caused quite a stir mostly because Dame managed to get a rise out of the usually calm and quiet DJ Envy, which resulted in them screaming at each other for a majority of the interview.
My personal highlight was Dame Dash sonning the hell out of Charlemagne. For those who are not from NYC or fans of Nicki Minaj, to “son” someone means to talk down to them as if they were a child, or your son. If you’ve watched The Breakfast Club before, you know Charlemagne gets a kick out of pushing people’s buttons. He knows Dame and Jay-Z have a strained relationship, so Charlemagne purposely wore a Roc Nation hat and a shirt with a giant picture of Jay-Z on the front with the word “Legend” above his head. Every time Charlamagne tried to sneak in a smart remark, Dame put his hand up and told him to shut it! That was pretty much the only interaction Charlemagne got out of Dame, and he deserved it.
Dame has STRONG beliefs about the slave mentality of African Americans and he blames the media (mainly the TV and radio industry) for it. During the interview, Dame told DJ Envy that he was not a real man because after 20 years in the radio industry, Envy still wasn’t a BOSS and because of this, Envy’s son would never look up to him. Dame also called out Spike Lee for not wanting to work with him on his new film project, said Jay-Z is affilated with informants, and spoke on Drake wanting a rap battle with Murda Mook:
On not wanting to be referred to as a ‘Music Mogul’, like Jay-z and Diddy:
I’m not a mogul, I’m a tycoon. Don’t disrespect me and say I do everything everybody else does. I put up my own money. All these so called moguls y’all are talking about, you name one of them that put their own dough up. You’re only the boss if you put up your own money. If you don’t put up your money, I don’t care how much money somebody gives you, you’re nothing but a supervisor. It’s not yours. There’s no money in this world that somebody can pay me for me to call them a boss. That’s like calling somebody ‘daddy’. How can a man call another man like ‘yo, that’s my boss’?
On not wanting to answer the question on his history with Jay-Z:
Everybody knows my history with Jay. Y’all saw my other interview. I already told you the reasons why I don’t want to talk about that man. You got one of those hats on right now [points to Charlemagne who is wearing the Roc Nation hat and T-shirt with Jay-Z’s face on it]. I told you why. I don’t want to talk about that man. You [Charlemagne] sitting here with the man’s hat on. Y’all don’t understand what’s out there. People go to jail, people get killed for this kind of stuff… I told you, once a nigga has certain friends, we don’t even talk about him no more where I’m from. So you think I’ma get on the camera and keep talking about this thing. I don’t know what’s going on over there. You got the hat on, you ask him. You call him, don’t use me to do that.”
The other interview Dame is referring to is his interview with Sway In The Morning radio show, where he stated he doesn’t speak about Jay-Z because Jay is allegedly an informant.
“This is the one time that the paper did scare me and I was like ‘there has to be some truth to it’. When I read about his affiliation with informants, that he’s in business with certain people. Based on where I’m from, I can’t have nothing to do with that. That part of it scares me ‘cause I know Biggs is in jail. I know Irv Gotti’s been harassed [by the feds] for years for shit he didn’t do. I know they been fucking with me for years. So, it just means I need to stay over here. I love Jay, but let’s say I find out any of that [was true], I can’t fuck with him at all because that’s how I was raised.”
On Drake wanting a rap battle with Dame’s friend Murda Mook:
“Drake made a fundamental mistake in battling: he challenged Mook. In the streets, you can’t challenge somebody and then take back the challenge. I think he said something on emotion, and on a business level, his people told him ‘you got too much to lose’. So, I told Mook ‘Drake’s not gonna battle you until you’re richer than him’, and that’ll be next week. Until Drake has something to lose, I wouldn’t do it either, I wouldn’t advise him…
Mook: He wants to do it, though.
Dame: He wants to do it, though, but I think he’s being advised not to. But, whenever he’s ready… I would prefer [Mook] to battle when he has more to lose. If I was Drake, I’m like ‘I’m not battling Murda Mook. Nobody really knows him, but people that battle. He’s the underdog. You never fight the underdog ‘cause if [Drake] wins, he’s Drake. If he loses, now [Mook] is the guy that beat Drake.
On women being more trustworthy than men:
You’ve seen men violate God. So, men gone violate everybody. Here’s a question I have: how come there was no women at the Last Supper?
Charlemagne: Maybe they was in the kitchen cooking.
Dame: That’s why [Jesus] got violated. You aint got no women around watching your back, you’re getting violated. The Bible is 3,000 pages about stories about men violating God. So, that’s just me saying men are always gonna violate other men. That’s why I keep my circle tight and I try to keep more women around me. I don’t like dudes that much. They be worried about the wrong shit.
Angela Yee: You feel like women are more trustworthy than men?
Dame: 100 [percent]. Men should always want to be number one. His job is to go get a woman pregnant, go take care of that woman… and to be the champion. He’s supposed to be number one. That’s what grown men think. In Harlem, we always think that. That’s why you can’t hire a bunch of men, they gonna resent you. You know what you get when you give a bunch of men stuff? They resent you for that. They want to kill you because they want to be the boss. If a man doesn’t want to be a boss, then he’s not a real man. Every real man wants to be a boss. Who do the girls like? The boss. So everyone that has girlfriends, they’re going to keep their girls away from the boss, because he’s the most appealing.
Calls Out Spike Lee:
I’m sick of us as a culture not sticking together. I’ma call somebody out from our culture. I’m calling out Spike Lee. He’s doing the same thing I’m doing on Vimeo. I had [my guy who does technology] reach out to him [to say], ‘we should link up and just talk’. And [Spike] was like, ‘you know Dame is arrogant’. He didn’t want to offer no help, he didn’t want to sit down with me, and I just didn’t appreciate that. I just want somebody to ask Spike Lee why he don’t want to stick together. Why he thinks I don’t deserve a conversation? When have I ever been arrogant with him? Why we don’t stick together? Why is the first thing he would bring up is a fault of mine? He’s a great man. I would want him to say something good about me. So, I’m only airing it out in public ‘cause I want it to be spoken about.
Dame on DJ Envy not being a REAL Man, not being his own boss after “20 years” in the radio industry, and Envy being unable to pass down a career to his son :
Dame: You don’t own (the station). Can you give it to your son?
Envy: I absolutely, positively can.
Dame: How?
Envy: Because I own shares of this company.
Dame: If your son needs a job here, can you give it to him? If your son needs to get some money out the bank, from here, can he get it? Alright. You don’t own this. I’m not going to fight for something that I don’t own. Men don’t do that. I don’t fight for other niggas. I fight for me. I’m not going to build somebody else’s company and then pick shares for my son.
You have to understand what you’re doing in business because you gotta do what is best for your kids. What is best for your kids is, put your money into something… so that when your child becomes a man, he doesn’t have to work for nobody. So you’re going to work for 20 years in the business every day, over and over again, and your son can’t work here when he feels like it? That’s clowning to me.
Envy: But I don’t want him to work here! That’s the thing! I’m here because I enjoy it. I don’t need a check. I work here because I enjoy it, I would work here for free.
Dame: Who could work — Did you ever enjoy being a slave?
Envy: I’m not a slave. I work here because I enjoy it.
Dame: Did you have to come to work today? Did you have a choice? Yes you do, or you’re fired! Can another man tell you you’re fired? Nobody can tell me that. You enjoy having another man tell you ‘you’re fired’? Do you think your son enjoys you calling another man ‘a boss’? Don’t you think your son would rather wake up with you and you can pick him up from school, instead of doing a 9 to 5?
Envy: I take my son to school every day.
Dame: Yea, aite, but you have to wake up at 4 in the morning. Don’t you think your son would love it if your last name was up there instead (points to the Breakfast Club sign)? My pride is in my children! I taught my son never to have a boss. He’s 23. He owns a restaurant, he has cookies. He has equity. He busts his ass so he could pass it on to his son. If that’s not what you’re hustling for, you’re selfish! You keep saying ‘I’. I’m worried about my kids. You worried about you! You’re working for another man.
You’re saying because you enjoy being a DJ, you enjoy having a boss. If you enjoy being a DJ, why don’t you own a radio station and DJ for your own radio station so that your son could get on any time he wants? See, you enjoy the safety and security of a job everyday. But there’s no pride in that to me. My son takes pride in the fact that I have Dash Motors and because I have that, my son said ‘I’m not going to ever have a boss.’ The mentality is different. It’s just about changing their mentality.
On the media promoting the slave mentality among Black people:
Envy: There’s millions of people out there who don’t have that opportunity and have a boss every day. So you’re basically saying because they have a boss, there’s no pride in that?
I think because people on the radio tell people it’s ok to have a boss. They don’t understand that they can have more. And because of the direct consumer relationship and the Internet, there’s no excuse. So now when I make a movie, I don’t have to ask if I can put [OG] Daniel in it. I just do it. I had to ask if I could put Cam’Ron in Paid in Full. I don’t have to ask no more. There’s pride in that.
There’s just a pride you should have in ownership. [9 to 5 jobs] aren’t good. When you do something for yourself and your family, it never feels like work. I hustle for my last name, I don’t hustle for my first. You have a boss. How can a man have a boss be proud? Jobs are for lazy people that don’t want to invest in themselves.
Envy: I have enough investments to where I don’t need to work. That’s why I enjoy it.
Dame: Investments? But you don’t own nothing. Investments? You sound smart to somebody dumb.
He also insulted DJ Envy and Charlemagne for selling gossip for a living:
How do you feel about the fact that y’all sell gossip for a living? You’re a man. How do men sell gossip? That’s for women. Y’all talk about what other people say. Every day y’all talking about what you heard. That’s gossip. Women do that. That’s what women do. I don’t listen to your show.
Envy: Well, you should listen to the show.
Dame: I be sleep! I don’t get up that early. I’m a boss. I can wake up when I want. I don’t be up that early.
Dame’s comments on the working class’s mentality didn’t go over well with fans of the show. Many pointed out that the people Dame calls “lazy” are not only the same people he employs, but are also the ones who’ve supported his career over the years. Others called Dame out as a hypocrite for his lack of funds and allegedly owing the IRS millions of dollars. I think Dame dropped a few gems of information and some great one liners, but because his delivery was both harsh and insulting to the masses, his message was rejected. It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it. 99.9% of everything Dame said was factual: Our culture needs to stick together, there are more White bosses over Black culture (urban clothing lines, hip-hop record labels, TV networks geared towards minorities), and the “slave mentality” is what’s holding us back as a people. However, that message got lost due to Dame’s hostility.
He also nicknamed Charlemagne “Chatty Patty” for revealing a rumor about Dame without citing the source of the rumor, saying Jay-Z caused the fall of Roc-A-Fella when he engaged in the rap feud with Nas, and promoting his new project Loisaidas, a web series featured on Vimeo. He also promoted his son’s restaurant Buns and Dame’s art galleries in NYC and China. Check the FULL interview below:
ALSO, check out his interview with Sway, where he addressed WHY he doesn’t mess with Jay, Lee Daniels owing him over $2 million, and telling Sway that Sway’s insecurities are holding him back. He gets a kick out of telling people about themselves, I see: