Damon Dash Says.... Jim Jones NEW Album Is In The 'Same League' As REASONABLE DOUBT & THE CHRONIC !!!

Jim isn’t really considered a lyrically gifted M.C. How are you gonna change that (?)
Dash: If you come down and listen to his album [Pray IV Reign], and I’m
not sure if I’m too close to the music or the project, but shit sounds
like a classic. I’m a make a bold statement and put it in the same league as Reasonable Doubt and The Chronic.




Could you see that Dipset was falling apart, that Cam’ron wasn’t going to maintain his place in the industry (?)
Jones: I just know there were a lot of things going on. You find out
who really wants to be around one another once money comes into play.
See, for a minute, it was one-sided. He was the breadwinner, obviously.
For the most part, I was just trying to stay above water, because I
wasn't in the streets hustling anymore. I finally figured out what I
needed to do to get enough money to control my own destiny in the
industry. [But] we were like brothers. That was a hard blow. They see
[Cam] in Harlem all the time and stuff like that. I don’t think he’s
hiding underneath a cave or anything like that. But the communication
between us doesn't exist.



Now the high-profile partnership is between you and Dame (?)
Jones: To be here right now and be able to work with him, have him
consulting me for the moves I make in the industry, so I don't fuck up?
He's already made history.
Dash: With me, I was so focused on the fashion that I didn't even
really hear what people were saying about me in the business. On the
ego side, I want to show motherfuckers, look, I left the business, it’s
not because I had to. And when I come back, I’m gonna change the
economy as well. Since I’m coming from fashion, I understand the
concept of building a brand. I have these resources that most rappers
at this point in their career don’t have: He’s not the kind of guy that
people expect to be in the same room with the likes of an Anna Wintour
or do records with groups like MGMT. If I had these resources when I
was doing Reasonable Doubt, I would have made a billion dollars.



Dame, are you gonna stick around in music after this project is done (?)
Dash: You never know what opportunity will present itself. It’s a
component to everything I want to be doing. We also did a documentary,
a movie, a play. I don’t have a Tony, and I don’t have an Oscar. I need
those things. We’re gonna reinvent the way you sell records. And we
will get copied. We’re gonna change the economy of the music business.
I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, but it seemed like the day I
stopped doing music was the day the music business went down, not to
sound arrogant or cocky



What about the Dipset brand? Is that something you’re going to build back up (?)
Dash: I feel that it’s never reached its top potential. What I smell
right now with the Dipset is Death Row, Bad Boy, and Rocafella
combined. Because they’ve already been through all the stupid shit, and
they work hard. All they need is organization, and that’s me.



Are you worried about the play being an embarrassment (?)
Jones: Definitely it’s a gamble. But let’s do it. Shit, if it don’t
work, what are they gonna say? He bombed? All over every newspaper,
media, press, everything? Shit, it’s all for the publicity at the end
of the day. Hopefully, they hail me like a genius.