Dame Dash AKA Billy Pablo III is a vast many things, but none more important than his role as the culture’s superhero. He is the living embodiment of the unbroken spirits and dreams of the first slaves who sought freedom from the moment they arrived on western shores. As an entrepreneur, he is both fearless and ambitious in the pursuit of his goals and genuinely hopes to inspire others to uplift themselves so we can uplift the community and culture as a whole.
He is imperfect and has made mistakes. But, it is in those moments, despite the might of our heroes including the ones on the big screen, that we can relate. And, it is how they rise afterward that inspires us to believe in ourselves — believe that we too can learn from our mistakes and overcome our adversities, even if we create them in the first place. If this is how we define heroism, then Dame Dash is a hero worthy of being celebrated whether you like him or not.
Dame Dash has always been daring. From the day he first came into many of our lives as one of the three co-founders of Rocafella Records, he has always unapologetically demanded respect in an industry where validation is only given to the breadwinners. Whether you admire or despise his majestic sense of self, there are a few truths that cannot be ignored.
First, he has always been unabashedly himself. He doesn’t seek or need your validation. Don’t get it fucked up. He didn’t become outspoken because the industry tried to push him out. If anything, the storied extraordinary efforts to silence him likely arose because he candidly spoke his truth to power. While it may have come at great consequence, you must reverence someone who knows the cost and stands his ground regardless. Secondly, without his contributions, arguably the greatest, but undoubtedly, the most successful rapper the world has ever known, may have never risen beyond the streets of Brooklyn.
Launching his new on-demand video service Dame Dash Studios (DDS), Dame welcomes the task of challenging successful streaming platforms like Hulu and Netflix by creating and distributing exclusive series, original movies, and documentaries. The content will cover a wide range of subjects including business, travel, music, health, comedy, and fashion.
“I have always been a guy who liked visuals. I’ve always been a guy who liked being independent. I am good at making music. I’ve made a lot of it. I’ve made a lot of fashion. I’ve made a lot of movies. Why do I have to give them to other people to sell for me where they tell me what to do? They will make the majority of the money. They will cook the books and try to make me think that they are doing me a favor by allowing me to give them my drip for them to sell and exploit. Not to mention, my children would not be able to benefit from it.
“Instead of being paid a fee or a salary for my soul and my efforts, at this point in my life I’ve decided not to focus on other people, but focus on myself. I have been telling people and giving people a platform, but when they get it, they don’t do right by our culture.”
The responsibility of protecting the culture is no light matter when it comes to Dame. The entertainment executive has publicly addressed some of the most influential executives for allegedly engaging in the exploitation of Black music and artists without consideration of how it negatively impacts the black community as a whole. While the term “culture vulture” predates his usage, its inclusion in his public takedowns of famous figures like Funkmaster Flex, Lyor Cohen, and Steve Stoute has made it commonplace.
“I’m not a selfish person. I do things for my family. I do things for love. I also do things for my culture… I think that information is important. I think that people who have been controlling it, have been controlling our minds. They have given us a pattern of eating bad foods, worrying all the time, and living by ideas that don’t fit us and aren’t good for us. These patterns were implemented by people who had slaves and treated women poorly. My goal is to deprogram people, to pay for it all, to look good doing it, to do it in luxury and to empower women. I want to own it and leave it to my children and the people I love.
“In order to change things, you have to be disruptive. Being disruptive requires that you do things creatively. The way things have been done for the last 100 years have not been done for us. Things have to be done differently until they become normal.”
One of the most important things that will set DDS apart from other digital services is that Dame will personally curate the content in ensure that even its fictional stories are consistent with realities of things within our community. It’s not enough to seem believable to those who don’t know better. It needs to be true.
“There’s a different process for everything. I make docu-series, and I make scripted, but what I really like to do is to capture natural energy. I don’t believe in acting, I believe in capturing moments and then monetizing them. I don’t have any fake shit. Usually, the people who sell gangster shit don’t even know the gangsters they are talking about. They are telling a bunch of other people’s versions of events. I can talk directly to them because I saw it with my own eyes like Paid in Full. Everything you see is based on something authentic. I don’t have license anything.
“I want people to understand that my network is the only one starting with 100% original content. Netflix is in debt every year, I’m not. I didn’t start off licensing cheap shit. I’m starting off with premium content made and directed by me. I also want people to know that I don’t just direct, I do everything… I have a creative way of doing things. I am going after filmmakers like Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen. I think I can shoot better. The difference is that they went to school and I didn’t. They used other people’s money. I don’t.”
If his extraordinary ambitions seem fantastic, you should consider his track record of success. As a music executive, he managed Jay-Z in the early stages of his career, negotiated a partnership between Rocafella and Def Jam and sold several million albums prior to the split. Dame is largely responsible for launching the careers of Kanye West, Kevin Hart, and filmmaker/director Lee Daniels.
“I’m not a game at all… No one has seen a real boss. I put up my own bread. No one knows what that means because no one does it. Everyone else raises money or wants to be the celebrity face of a fund and act like the money is theirs but it’s not. That’s all bullshit.
“Not being in control or having ownership, that’s for slaves. I’m not a slave. I don’t speak that language. I only know that I’m a boss. I don’t know what they’re thinking. I think they’re bugging. I have been telling them the last twenty-five years the same shit. This is nothing new. People thought I was crazy, but I’m going to say it until they don’t. And, I’m going to keep saying it.”
But even before his success with Rocafella, he has always been a quintessential entrepreneur. After he lost his mother due to asthma at the age of fifteen, Dame took care of himself through various hustles including selling newspapers and sweeping barbershop floors, even paying his own tuition at a private school. He would drop out after the realization he was driving a better car than the principal.
“The only way I survived in the streets is because I didn’t kill. I didn’t have to. I didn’t have to walk around with a gun because I knew the illest and most dangerous people on the planet. They respected me because I am a good dude. If you’re a good dude, your honor will protect you.”
Though his business accomplishments and iconic drive are widely respected, Dame Dash has more than his share of detractors. Mainstream media has a disproportionate tendency to be more apt to cover his adversities (lawsuits, child support debts, etc.) than his achievements. This has led many to believe that the media slant is by design, his comeuppance for his refusal to fall in line and be silent.
“People talk about me every day like I’m a rapper and I’m fifty-years-old. I make companies, and I sell companies. No one plays that game. No one talks about the fact that I’ve owned a 100 million dollar company for the last ten years, Rachel Roy fashion. They don’t want to talk about that. Shit has nothing to do with hip hop, but no one talks about that…
“I’m a superhero. Matter of fact, it’s no longer Dame. Billy Pablo III is a superhero, and I dare anyone to say I’m not. The only person that could challenge me is Batman, and he’s a character in comic books. Tell me who out here has been fighting by himself for thirty years straight.”
BE’N ORIGINAL
