Thursday, March 28, 2024

Damon Dash Talks New Streaming Service, Rocawear and Burning Gucci Gear

Cast member Damon Dash attends WE tv’s celebration of “Growing Up Hip Hop” Season 3 at the Smithsonian Institute National Museum of African American History and Culture on July 20, 2017 in Washington, DC.

*Damon Dash has announced that his new name is Billy Pablo the Third.

As he recently told Complex, “I have an album coming out; it’s called Billy Pablo the Third,” he shared during a candid interview, in which the also dished about Rocawear, the line he launched with his ex-wife Rachel Roy in 2014, as well as his latest ventures including DDTV, a shopping network, and Dame Dash Studios, a relaunched streaming service with new programming from artists including Talib Kweli, Kanye West and comedian Torrei Hart, the report states.

Check out excerpts from the interview below, as well as clip of Dash playing a guitar at his studio via the Instagram embed.

OTHER NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: Reebok Rep Denies Report That Beyonce Walked Out of Meeting Over Lack of Diversity

 

View this post on Instagram

 

#billypablothe3rd @billypablo_andtheblackguns

A post shared by Dame Dash (@duskopoppington) on

How long have you been working on Damon Dash Studios and DDTV? It looks like you also launched this in 2016. Is this a relaunch?  

Well, it has constantly been an evolution. So I’ve been aggregating content and putting it out for years. I had an internet television station in 2005. I invented the term “webisode,” so every time I do something, I launch it, but in this respect, it’s just a more evolved version with more content, and it’s with a lot more consistency.

What’s the new content?

There are docu-series like the Anthony Bourdain-type of thing where we run around the world and we went to China. We went to Jamaica. We have scripted premium programming, and that’s Honor Up(ital). Then there’s Rocky [Ed. Note—Raquel Horn, Dame’s girlfriend], who has a cooking show. There is so much. There is music. There is everything that everyone else has, but way more swaggier and without a filter. More authentic. I’ve got the OG series where I’m interviewing everyone that defines me and my mentality and people I respect. In the first episode I have Calvin Klein. I got Dash Diabetes, which is all about me as a diabetic and the evolution that comes with it and making sure people understand how to evolve their care. As I learn something, I teach it. Then there’s the Culture Vulture stuff. There is everything. Then there’s a lot of the history and the things I was doing before.

What about the shopping network?

No one ever mentions the fact that I own Rachel Roy, and that bugs me out, too, because I’ve been owning that for the last 10 years. It’s fashion and it’s a $100 million company, but for some reason, everyone just sweeps that one under the rug. I don’t know why. But the reason why I was getting to that is phase one is the streaming, but phase two is the shop-and-buy, and that’s where while you’re watching programing, you can actually buy what you see. That’s the second phase. Then the third phase is cable, just for perception for the old heads, but I really think that’s a dinosaur. I think it’s important to have a direct-to-consumer relationship. You know what I mean? My new name now is Billy Pablo the Third.

Rocawear was one of the urban streetwear brands that was doing really well in the early 2000s, and now a couple of those brands are reentering the market. What do you think about Fubu and Baby Phat relaunching?

I think somebody took a brand in distress and now they’re going to license it. You know the game. I make new brands and I sell new work, so I’m not bringing back Rocawear. See, once I left, that sh*t went to the Titanic because it was corny. I’m not disrespecting nothing. It’s just I’m not about old work. I look to the future. I think it’s vintage. When I see that, I know the business model. Somebody bought the brand; they’re going to license it out. Period. It’s probably someone that is not of the culture. Period. Then they’re going to try to get some of us to be the face of the brand, but it ain’t going to be our money that’s going to be made. You know what I mean? Unless it’s, like, something that is cut and sew, and unless it’s made by the people that were the original point of view of the brand, I’m not with it.

Do you think urban streetwear brands made a mistake by going mass and entering Macy’s?

I mean, as long as they have a designer line, you can go Macy’s. Rachel is in Macy’s. Where we f*cked up is we’re not in Bergdorf Goodman. So Ralph Lauren does it all the time. As long as you have a designer line, you can license the sh*t out of anything else, but you’ve just got to have something that showcases your point of view. You know what I’m saying? All this mass stuff is licensed.

And I see you were supportive of a burn Gucci event. Were you not satisfied with the apology?

I didn’t really give a f*ck. I just liked the statement that if you f*ck with us, we’re burning your sh*t. Like, f*ck it. I don’t care about that sh*t. You know what I’m saying? I like that somebody stood up, and I’mma stand up. I thought it was gangster. I thought it looked good, and I just liked standing up for our culture. Gucci is Gucci. What do we expect? That’s why we got to make our own sh*t. The way I get back at that is I make my own sh*t. I had a pair of Gucci boots because I don’t make shoes. I burned them sh*ts, so I don’t give a f*ck. But I did go and buy some Prada loafers. I don’t make shoes, so I had to get some.

Let’s talk about Rachel Roy: Are you currently trying to buy majority interest?

No. I bought that sh*t back. What happened was, they had been cooking the books for a long time.

You are talking about the manufacturing company Topson Downs, right, which acquired a majority stake in the business in 2014?

Yes. Topson Downs. They had been killing it, man. It’s crazy what’s going on. At the end of the day, I arranged to get the company back, but they didn’t want Rachel to sue them, so Rachel was like, “Yo, I’m not going to sign off not suing them unless you give me 80 percent of the company.” I’m like, “Yo, you bugging.” I put in $6 million and you all have been robbing me for $8 million. I lost $10 million already. I let her run with the company, and look at it. It’s just in Macy’s. Now I’ve got to take it back, pay for it, make it re-luxury, and get it back to where it was. Anna Wintour told me, “Yo, you mess with Jones [an apparel and accessories manufacturer that acquired the Rachel Roy line before Topson Downs] or you mess with any one of these dudes, your brand is going to be a dud.” Now look—we’re just known to be Becky with the good hair. You know what I mean? Now I’ve got to relaunch the sh*t with my daughter as the face.

I made the company for Rachel. I invest in my queens, so even when they walk away, they got a $100 million company and they have independence and my daughters have something to look up to. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to get my bread back. It’s short money to me. I’m not going to be running for it. You see I didn’t go chase Lee Daniels? I ran into him. When I get to it, I get to it. Until then, it’s just like I’m going to do this television network and then I’ll get back to it.

What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs who are trying to start clothing lines and want to do it independently but don’t have the capital?

I would start small, like with ties or with buttons. Like I did it with socks. You can do a whole line, but it’s going to kill you to develop it and you can’t sell it but to one place. Like, you have to lose so much money in the beginning to establish yourself as a brand, so if you’re going to lose, don’t lose so much money. Make it one piece, but do it well. Do the best buttons, but if you have to do a six-piece collection, it costs, like, a million dollars to develop it or whatever it is, and that’s what kills you. Don’t hold inventory and don’t worry. Just build your brand and be your brand, and don’t think a brand is putting your logo on a T-shirt. A brand is a lifestyle, and it has to have a point of view. You understand what I’m saying? Don’t think it’s going to be easy. To really get credible in fashion, it takes 10 years. Because to be a brand, it means you have to be consistent in something, right?

Read Dame’s full interview with Complex here. 

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING