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Dame Dash Apologizes to JAY-Z in New Interview
Dame Dash Apologizes to JAY-Z in New Interview
Source: Artist

Dame Dash Talks About His Streaming Service, Nipsey Hussle's Death & Why He Hasn't Been to Kanye's Sunday Service Yet [Interview]

Dame Dash Apologizes to JAY-Z in New Interview Source: Artist

Dame Dash talked about Dame Dash Studios, Nipsey Hussle's death, and how his apology to Lyor Cohen was misconstrued.

Dame Dash has had many battles. Over a career that's spanned nearly three decades, he's gone head-to-head with label heads, A&Rs, powerful movie producers, and fashion moguls. You ask him, he's never lost. But, he is about to enter the most formidable battle of his life. He's going to be battling for a viewer's attention span.

READ: Dame Dash Talks Kanye West, Dapper Dan, & What Being Independent Really Means [Interview]

On April 3rd Dame Dash officially launched Dame Dash Studios, a subscription service in the mold of a Netflix or Hulu. For $7.99 a month — one dollar a month less than Netflix — you'll be able to stream exclusive series, movies, and documentaries. (He also launched his own shopping network called Dame Dash TV (DDTV), where people will be able to make purchases directly.)

Scroll around Dame Dash Studios and you'll see that Dame Dash is the star. There are multiple channels or networks to choose from: including the Dash Diabetes Network — lead by the show Health is Wealth, a plant-based cooking show starring Raquel M Horn, Dame's girlfriend; Poppington University, a channel featuring shows like Culture Vultures Master Class and Discussions with Dr. Boyce Watkins; and Dash Films, which is where you can watch Honor Up, a movie Dame directed and starred in with Cam'ron and Stacy Dash. (Fun fact: the movie, which was executive produced by Kanye West, came out in theaters the same weekend as Black Panther.)

READ: Is it Time to Shift the Villain Narrative Surrounding Dame Dash?

Prior to the launch of DDS, we were able to talk with Dame Dash over the phone. In a sprawling 20 minute conversation — that was condensed for clarity —  he gave his thoughts about the death of Nipsey Hussle, why he wants to center women in his business ventures, and why he hasn't been to a Sunday Service yet.

Check out highlights from the talk below.

On Dame Dash Studios

I've been making content and distributing it since 2009. I've always looked at the Internet's freedom. So I was trying to build streaming services and all the things that come with it a long time ago... So why not have my own network that plays my own music and direct the stories that are authentic because I also come from a lot of very authentic circumstances, and I only know authentic people?

All my shit is original and there's no politics with it. And I own it. I promote my own brand. Not many people can make the content, shoot the content, make the clothes, make the music, and have machining over distribution.

On giving power back to women

I believe that it only makes sense because God is supposed to be the creator of life. The only creator of life that I see on this planet is a woman. And we just treat them terrible. They always have to fight the man who really should accommodate a woman's world. My thing is more power on making them queens. Make them bosses. Make them all rich and give them back the power so they could take the world and be a better place.

On being vegan

Give the power back to women but also I need to save these animals. It's genocide for animals all day. Genocide for the planet all day. Like, we can make energy without having to kill the planet but we just choose not too. We could do that 100 years ago but we just chose not too...We don't have to kill animals to eat and we don't have to kill animals to stay warm, but we do it all day.

I knew [eating meat] was the number one cause of cancer. It just gave me clarity of how unfair it is for these animals to get fucking choked all day.

On his relationship with Kanye

He threw down when I needed it, you know what I mean. He put [money] on it. That's my brother and you know all elephants always get addressed in the room when we see each other. I feel like I'm his only real friend.

You got to remember: me and Kanye are really like family. We're really like brothers. So our relationship is tied different. We're really like regular people when we talk.

On if he attended Kanye's Sunday Service

Nah. He invites me and shit. I was like "first of all, nigga, I'm not going to church if you changed the name to Sunday Service." I had a problem with the fact that it was at the same time as church. And I don't play with God like that. But I see what he's doing is positive, and it's making him feel good. So I support it.

On Nipsey Hussle's death

It broke my heart. But, the thing is, I'm used to getting my heart broken. We were talking about working together.

It hurts when you know somebody and that hurts cause you miss them. But then it hurts when you know what they could have done for the world, you know what I mean. It's a pattern. And how do you break the pattern? You know the good guys always got to get punished. They always have to be a sacrifice for people to learn from...So my question is, can we learn from this? I just hope it happened for a reason. And the reason should be that we can learn from it.

On apologizing to Lyor Cohen

No, I didn't apologize to Lyor. I apologized for talking in a certain way and being out of context. I don't like looking like a little girl. I don't like the way they look. I don't like the way they act. So I didn't want to look like that. So I apologized for even engaging in that. And the only reason why I engaged in it is cause I was frustrated cause I was grinding. I think people took that wrong. That wasn't like I apologized for my ideas and morals.