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Activism Flourishes at Afropunk Fest 14' (Day 1 Recap Video)

By: Vance BrinkleyCategory: Uncategorized

“HANDS UP!! DON’T SHOOT!! HANDS UP!! DON’T SHOOT!!” 

Before D’Angelo ended this year’s Afropunk Fest as the show’s anticipated headliner, an extremely packed crowd put their hands up in honor of Mike Brown’s shooting and the following turn of events in Ferguson. This was the biggest act of protest at the music festival, but it wasn’t the first. Afropunk Fest may be about the music, the fashion, and all-around life style of punk culture within the black population, but this year’s festival has taken a further step to use the culture to help change common problems within it. Before festival goers even take a step near the 4 stages, they had to go through Afropunk’s Activism Row,a walkway put together by Progressive Pupil and Afropunk, consisting of different non-profits and local community projects, all fighting to help change the world through tackling different issues.

DSC_0047Though the topics in Activism Row were serious, the booths used interactive ways to get their message across. Whether they were painting their faces or taking informal pamphlets, the Afropunk community learned about these issues while participating in the dope festivities of the festival, but it never play down nor ruin the vibe of the festival. Exalt was one of the non-profits in Activism Row, with a program that teaches teens involved in the court system to become conscious about the problems in local communities. “It’s a nice way to bring something very serious to something very joyous and celebrating about culture” Says Exalt program manager, Jolanda Porter. “Activism Row forces the people to go to these issues and also says that it’s ok to talk about these things, it doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be nice.”

Exalt was only one of the dozen of non-profits that were at Commodore Barry Park that weekend, each of them with a unique way to help out the local communities and to spread that call of help to the Afropunk fan base. Even with all of the progressive movements at Afropunk, the non-profits at the Row didn’t shy away from taking on the brutal turn of events happening in Ferguson. Whit Jones of the Energy Climate Coalition was at Afropunk to inform about the People’s Climate March, but him along with the non-profit made a photo booth with the words “stop, don’t shoot.” Add this with a police brutality booth (ironically located right beside a group of NYPD police officers) and D’Angelo’s live remake of Bob Marley’s “Burning and Looting”, and you have a festival that’s all about celebrating a unique culture, but dares itself to take on the social issues occurring in communities everywhere.

DSC_0040With all of this being said, Afropunk Fest was an experience that needs to be continued. It doesn’t have the superstars, flashy screens, and huge atmosphere like the bigger festivals. However,  the what it did do  was thrive off of bringing together great people, great music, and a new perspective on how social issues can be brought up at such a unique gathering. It’s what made Afropunk Fest deeper than the average festival, with an alternative culture that’s rarely given it’s opportunity to shine.  Check out our recap of Day 1 of Afropunk Fest featuring performances from Shabazz Palaces Alice Smith, Lianne La Havas and many more. There’s also a full gallery of performances and Actvism Row in after the jump.

@VBrinkley513 

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Trillectro: Where Culture and Music Collide

By: Vance BrinkleyCategory: Alternatives

Photography by Lauren Williams

Brought to you by the good folks of DCtoBC, Trillectro is slowly but surely on it’s way to becoming one of the best musical festivals in existence.

Sponsored by Reebok, Karma Loop, Heineken, Shoe City, Events DC and hosted by Lowkey of YouHeardThatNew.com, the #Trillectro2014 line-up pretty much says it all. Big Sean. Baauer. Migos. Rae Sremmurd. SZA. Rome Fortune. Goldlink. Sango. Lightshow and many other talented artists of the Hip Hop and EDM persuasions all blessed the stage on Saturday, August 23, 2014.
The day started off cloudy and wet but that did not stop hundreds of fans from piling into RFK Festival Grounds in Washington, D.C ready to enjoy a great day of music. The beats were loud, the energy was high and the vibe was positive. Many memorable moments occurred throughout the day but it was Travi$ Scott who reaffirmed my love for Hip Hop. Here are the series of events.

Travi$ Scott runs onto the stage. He looks into the photo pit and instructs all members of the media to leave. “GET THE F### OUT!, I only want to see the faces of my real fans,” he says. They all stand there, looking perplexed. Travi$ Scott tells fans to jump the gate and come closer to him. Some fans jump the gate, others are blocked by security. Travi$ Scott grows impatient. His request has still not been fulfilled. He jumps off the stage, into the photo pit, over the gate and performs his entire set in the middle of the crowd. My eyes lit up and for a few minutes, I got lost in all of the excitement. As Travi$ Scott’s performance starting coming to a end, the DJ drops Don’t Play. Scott does his verse and seconds later it was exit Travi$ Scott. Enter Big Sean.

Sean performed verses from all of the fan favorites. Gang Bang, Dance (Ass…), Burn, Mercy, but it was his verse for Sanctified that really did it for me. It kinda made me wonder why the hell it isn’t on the album version. Thank God for iPhone,Instagram and Trillectro’s soundcloud.

When it was all over, many of us walked back to our cars and proceeded to head to the Trillectro After Party. As we were leaving, I couldn’t help over hear everyone talk about how much fun they had and the performances they enjoyed the most. I thought to myself as I listened to all the excitement around me, “I can’t wait until next year”. If you missed it this year, maybe by then you’ll get with it and join the rest of us. Until then, always remember to keep it trill.

For more pictures and videos from Trillectro, don’t hesitate to search the hashtags #trillectro and #trillectro2014 on Twitter and Instagram.

Stop Blaming Hip-Hop!

By: YourfavenightmareCategory: Headlines

Blaming Hip-Hop for the problems in and out of our community is some real Stockholm syndrome s###. We are not to blame for the systematic attacks on our people. Long before Kool Herc spun at a party or the world heard Rappers Delight the police we killing us in cold blood. From Camden to Watts and Chicago to New Orleans there have been countless cases of police terrorism and lynchings in this country over the past 500 years. Wearing a SnapBack doesn’t give the police a right to harass and beat you, same as Trayvon wearing a hoodie shouldn’t give predators like Zimmerman a pass to kill a child. The true problem is that this country built it self and still feeds itself off of Black Death. Hip-Hop music was not there when slaves attempting to escape were tied to horses and quartered in front of the entire plantation to strike fear in men, women and children. The music was not there when Emmett Till was snatched from his bed or when the freedom riders were attacked by the side of the road.

Rap music didn’t assassinate our leaders based on COINTELPRO documents and the eradication of a possible Black Messiah, the FBI did that. Hip-Hop didn’t create crack cocaine and flood it into Black & Brown neighborhoods, the CIA did that.

Blaming our music ignores the fact that this is nothing new, it has been updated to suit the times but it’s nothing but Jim Crow 2.0. Hip-Hop is not the problem, in fact it has been a powerful tool to spread the truth about the injustices committed against us here in America since it’s inception.

The system attempts to co-opt it based on the power it has. Hip-Hop is has spread all over the world and appealed to all as a music of the counter culture, a buck back at the system and a rise against oppression. The spirit of our culture is as brave as the Spirituals we sung on the plantation laden with hidden messages leading us from bondage.

It’s as genius as Jazz and the flatted 5th’s we played from memory and improvisation while the society that danced to it wouldn’t allow itself believe we had the mental capacity to compose it. Rock & Roll, Doo-Wop, Soul, R&B, House, Go-Go, Hip-Hop and every other musical form we have created in America has been a powerful tool in our fight for Freedom, Justice and Equality.
Use it.

-Hasan Salaam
No Justice, No Peace
#LifeInBlackandWhite

Bobby Schmurda: I'm Doing Music Until I Die Like Michael Jackson

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Dr. Conrad Murray may have a new client in the future. In a recent interview, the 20 year old burgeoning rap star, Bobby Schmurda discussed his deal with Epic Records, aiming to “go out like Michael Jackson” and more.

Bobby Schmurda has admitted in past interviews that he used to sell drugs and famously raps that he’s “been selling crack since the fifth grade” on his single “Hot N*gga”. In his interview with Billboard, Schmurda reveals that he has left the drug selling game and his Michael Jackson aspirations:

This is the new trap, and we’re going trap till the wheels fall off, then keep going. I’m doing this till I die — I’m going out like Michael Jackson.

He’s already following in Jackson’s shoes by signing to Epic Records, which released the posthumous Michael Jackson album Xscape on May 13th. While details of his signing are rumored to include upwards of $2 million advance, Epic Records’ Executive Vice President of Urban A&R Sha Money says, no price was too high to sign Schmurda:

There’s no such thing as overpaying a young black man. This is an opportunity when someone can either take the money and go away, or take it and blow up.

Schmurda is preparing to release a
mixtape/EP Schmurda She Wrote later this year along with a debut album next year.

50 Cent Says Once Floyd Mayweather Jr Is Done Boxing, "He's Done Period" + MORE

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) 50 Cent has publicly mocked Floyd Mayweather Jr’s reading ability and his relationship problems in the past week, but according to him it’s all love. In a recent interview, 50 Cent explains why he makes fun of Floyd Mayweather Jr and how Mayweather Jr’s finances could potentially deplete soon.

During a recent interview with M Live, Mayweather Jr stated that unlike Hip Hop artists, “every home that I have is paid for, every car that I have is paid for, and I am a hundred-million-dollar man.” 50 Cent spoke with XXL recently and detailed how he “loves” Mayweather Jr and has tried to help the boxing star with his finances:

I don’t hate him, I love him, actually. Entering the sport of boxing is a reflection of that relationship. He doesn’t make any money away from the sport of boxing. That tells you when he’s done fighting, he’s done period. I just try to encourage him to do things away from the sport.

50 Cent later remarks Mayweather Jr does not have a “sustainable lifestyle” and “I’ll have to help him when it gets too tough.” During the BET Awards weekend in late June, Mayweather Jr gifted his girlfriend  Doralie Medina with over $70,000 in jewelry and clothing, two weeks after gifting her with a $300,000 Rolls Royce.

In February 2013, Mayweather Jr. signed a six-fight deal with Showtime worth $200 million. Mayweather Jr was 2013’s highest paid athlete after accumulating $105 million.

Check out 50 Cent’s full interview here.

Young Lawless Ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Kam Parker "Summertime" (P### By DJ Mustard).

By: Scooby Wilson (@mcscoobins)Category: MOBILE

DJ A-Tron’s newest single, “Summertime” by Young Lawless, TY Dolla Sign and Kam Parker with production from DJ Mustard. This is the second single off A-Tron’s “A Day In LA” EP dropping this fall with appearances from YG, Nipsey Hussle & many more.

Hip Hop Rumors: The BeyHive Comes For Breezy's Girl!

By: KubeezzCategory: Rumors

If you caught 106th an dPark yesterday, you watched as Chris Brown’s girl Karrueche Tran made her debut as the guest host of the show.

Most first days go smoothly without a glitch. However for co-host Tran, she learned a valuable lesson the hard way: Don’t come for Beyonce let alone little Blue Ivy. After reading a joke that was clearly out of line, the BeyHive wasted no time dragging her a** back and forth through the mud.

BallerAlert is reporting that the incident was a huge mistake.

“Sources close to Karrueche’s camp spoke with Baller Alert and stated that the VMA’s bit was added merely 10 minutes prior to the live show. BET came in to Karrueche’s dressing room and told her there were changes to the script to include a bit about the MTV VMA’s. When Karrueche’s team asked for a new script, they said they were tweaking it. Karrueche never got a new script and read the Blue Ivy joke for the first time on the TelePrompTer.”

Wonder where this leaves Breezy and Hov considering that there’s already bad blood….

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Trick Daddy Talks Miami Vs South Beach + Explains Why Hip Hop Is Limited To Stop Police Brutality

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY)Category: Features

(AllHipHop Features) The self-anointed “Mayor of Dade County” Trick Daddy put on for his city as one of the featured artists in the documentary The Field: Miami. The 53-minute film provided a platform for MIA-based rappers to discuss their hometown and its Hip Hop scene.

Trick actually opens the movie talking about the differences between Miami and South Beach. The creator of the platinum-certified Thugs Are Us LP refuses to sugarcoat his feelings about how the real Miami is not the image of white sand beaches and trendy nightspots broadcast around the globe.

AllHipHop.com caught up with the 20-year rap veteran to discuss his appearance in The Field. Trick also does not hold back on sharing his thoughts concerning the current national discussion taking place around racism, community policing, and Hip Hop’s role in addressing social issues.

[ALSO READ: Trick Daddy Talks Getting Gov’t Funding For Eat A Booty Gang + Responds To People Calling Him Gay]

You opened The Field talking about how South Beach and Miami are not the same. Can you give more details about how those two cities are different?

First of all, South Beach has its own chief of police. They’ve got their own police department, their own police headquarters. South Beach is beautiful. If you ain’t got money you can’t afford to live there. A drink that costs you $7 in Miami will cost you $12-15 on South Beach. A hotel that will cost you $89 in Miami will cost you $300 on South Beach.

The only thing real Miamians knew about South Beach was the military headquarters, the movie Scarface, and that the people from Miami, from the other side of the bridge, they don’t want you over there.

[South Beach has] become the tourist spot. They’re building more high rises – fifteen, twenty, thirty story condos. Miami people can’t afford that. Those people are making $42,000 a year. They can’t afford to live on South Beach.

The inner-city kids of Miami – 85% of them never been to South Beach. Our beaches were Haulover and Virginia Key. Those beaches don’t have restaurants. Those beaches are sand, water, and seaweed.

There was another moment in the movie that stood out. The section where it addressed Black resident Arthur McDuffie being killed by four police officers in 1979. That relates to what’s happening right now in Ferguson, Missouri with Michael Brown. From your experience, what do you think can be done now to help mend that relationship between the Black community and the police?

I think it starts at the Senate, then down to the Congress, then to the governor, and then the mayor, the commissioner. Everybody needs to be held accountable for something. Everything’s gotta get better. When they can’t do their jobs we gotta clip their wings. We gotta take their rank, take their pay check. We gotta send them back to where we live, then maybe they could better understand. They gotta come where we are.

I don’t like n***as like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They’re reality tv show wanna-be n***as. To me, they just come when it’s too late. I need them speaking. I don’t need them trying to get on TV, CNN, and radio stations talking after a little black boy is beaten, after somebody is fired from her job because of the color of her skin. I need them dudes to stop playing. Them dudes right there make it bad for n***as. That’s why I don’t take them serious.

We need good people in those places that people can really take serious. I ain’t talking bout no Puff. Nobody that went to Spelman. I ain’t talking bout nobody that went to an Ivy League school. I’m talking about somebody that grew up in the ghetto. And I ain’t talking bout [people from] the ghettos of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s that keep crying about slavery, because that’s been years ago. We need to move on from that.

There have been a few artists that have come out and addressed [the Ferguson situation]. Nelly spoke out. J. Cole went there. Killer Mike was on CNN. What is Hip Hop’s role in addressing this situation of dealing with the police?

To be honest, if you’re not those top ten rappers that’s worth tens of millions of dollars – there’s just ten, if that – but those rappers are not respected as much as the new rappers, because all the radio stations own each other. They control what music is played, so you’re here today then you’re gone tomorrow.

With that being said, you lose power when trying to force your opinion through Hip Hop. BET, MTV – all of them are owned by Viacom. That’s why BET only has one rap show – 106 & Park. They’re controlling it, so it ain’t much we can do.

When you went to Atlanta and listened to Atlanta radio, your personality was from Atlanta 10-15 years ago. When you went to the West Coast, the Bay area, they were listening to different music than what was coming out of L.A.

Not no more. Everybody is listening to the same songs all over the country, because these people came in and circled the market. So it’s going to be very hard for us. All we have to do is keep trying, because we can’t give up on the kids. We can’t give up on the future of a country we plan to live in the rest of our life.

[ALSO READ: Did Hip-Hop Fuel The Uprising In Ferguson? Holla If Ya Hear Me!]

Follow Trick Daddy on Twitter @305MAYOR and Instagram @trickdaddydollars.

Watch WSHH Presents The Field: Miami below.

EXCLUSIVE: Chevy Woods Talks Throwing Up While Smoking With Wiz Khalifa, Mixtape With Black Rob + MORE (VIDEO)

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Taylor Gang or Die..or just throw up your ice cream. During our EXCLUSIVE interview with Taylor Gang’s Chevy Woods, the Pittsburgh rapper discusses throwing up while taking marijuana dabs, raps unreleased lyrics from his upcoming EP and more.

There is enough video evidence to prove that Wiz Khalifa smokes enough marijuana to knock out a few wildlife animals, so partaking in that with him should be met with caution. On July 17th, 2013, The Under The Influence tour kicked off in San Francisco. According to Chevy, it was then that his experience with hash oil variant known as “dabs” led to projectile vomiting:

We were in San Fran on the Under The Influence tour last year. It was like the first time I did dabs. I ate some ice cream and 10 minutes later I start coughing and the ice cream came up. It wasn’t one of those everywhere type…it just shot out into the toilet and I just thought some body part came out.

Taylor Gang’s Chevy Woods grew up in Pittsburgh but had an affinity for the street tales of Black Rob. Woods explains that Rob’s 1999 Bad Boy Records debut Life Story was “speaking on what I was seeing out of my window at the time” and would love to do an entire mixtape with the veteran MC:

I’ve been a fan of Black Rob. I say this in every interview just so it can be played and he can see it. Wherever he is, let’s get it. We can make a whole mixtape, but I’m a b######## Rob fan.

Check out the second part of AllHipHop’s EXCLUSIVE interview with Chevy Woods below:

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Electronic Artist Claims Kanye West " Tried To F*cking Rip Me Off On "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy"

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Sampling is a tricky art that is perpetually in between thievery and inspiration. In a recent interview, famed electronic artist Aphex Twins details how Kanye West badly sampled his song and refused to involve him in the making of the song for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

West’s breakup song dedicated to Amber Rose, “Blame Game” contained a piano sample from Aphex Twins’ “Avril 14th”. According to Aphex Twins in an interview with Pitchfork, the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy song “sampled it really badly” and was not interested in involving him in recreating the sample:

I know that he tried to f###### rip me off and claim that he’d written it, and they tried to get away with not paying. I was really helpful, and when they first sent it to me, I was like, ‘Oh, I can re-do that for you, if you like,’ because they’d sampled it really badly and time-stretched it and there was loads of artifacts. I was like, ‘I’ll just replay it for you at that speed if you want.’ And they totally didn’t even say ‘hello’ or ‘thanks,’ they just replied with, ‘It’s not yours, it’s ours, and we’re not even asking you any more.’

The Aphex Twins sample was later recreated and long-time Kanye West collaborator Mike Dean is credited with playing piano on the song.

MTV VMAS Red Carpet Recap

By: Rea Davis @IamReaDavisCategory: Features

Filmed by DJ Hustle

Trophies often take a back seat at the VMAs to all of the craziness but this year wasn’t too crazy. Miley Cyrus won the top honor Sunday at the MTV Video Music Awards, but it was Beyonce‘s finale performance and the on-stage cameos of Jay Z and Blue Ivy that stole the night. In fact as Beyonce accepted the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard award after her electrifying performance (of her entire self-titled album), Blue Ivy was shown clapping her hands and saying “Yay, Mommy” into the mic. Jay Z called her the “greatest living entertainer.” Cyrus won the video of the year for “Wrecking Ball” and Nicki Minaj opened with her rump-shaking “Anaconda”.

Performers included Taylor Swift, Usher, Sam Smith, Maroon 5, Rita Ora, and Iggy Azalea. Rapper-actor Common also held a moment of silence for Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old who was fatally shot by a police officer on Aug. 9, before he presented the award for best Hip-Hop video. “Hip-Hop has always been about truth and has been a powerful instrument of social change, from Melle Mel to Public Enemy to Kendrick Lamar,” Common said. “Hip-Hop has always presented a voice for the revolution.” The 2014 MTV VMAS brought great excitement to Inglewood, California Sunday night.

AllHipHop caught up with a few artists and personalities on the red carpet. Check out the recap video below.

 

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Hip Hop Rumors: Lil Wayne Secret Child?

By: KubeezzCategory: Rumors

If its one thing Weezy loves its definitely the kids…

Recently Lil Wayne was hit with a paternity suit from a 30-year-old woman by the name of Keoitia Brown, from New Orleans.

Brown and her family claim that they have tried to reach out to YMCMB’s CEO for a DNA test, but it was pushed back due to his incarceration.  When he was released he has reportedly been ducking and dodging the test ever since.

The boy’s name is Dwayne Keyshawn Brown, and he’s 12-years-old. From the looks of things Weezy is a great father to his four and tries to stay involved, never heard of him not taking care of responsibilities….guess we’ll have to wait and see.

 

 

Angela Bassett: Whitney Houston Biopic "Controversy Can Be Good"

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) If Sex sells then controversy is the machine that manufactures it. Last night (August 25th) on the red carpet of the 2014 Emmys during NBC’s pre-show Angela Bassett explains how directing the Whitney Houston biopic has been and how “controversy can be good.”

Back in May, Bassett was announced as the director for the upcoming Lifetime biopic of Whitney Houston’s life. A month later Houston’s mother Cissy Houston released a statement and expressed that “no one connected with this movie knew Whitney or anything about her relationship with Bobby [Brown].” Bassett admits the difficulty in directing her first movie last night on the red carpet:

It felt like it was flowing from the beginning. Except me with the learning curve, you know. Coming from one side of the camera to the other

In response to the displeasure from members of the Houston family on the biopic’s production, Bassett stated “controversy can be good. It can pique your interest,”

There is no set release date or title for the upcoming Lifetime biopic on Whitney Houston

G-Unit Talks 50 Cent Recording Young Buck's Phone Call, Asking Drake For "0 to 100" + MORE

By: Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Last week, G-Unit stopped by SiriusXM studios to preview their Beauty of Independence EP and reveal secrets of their past. In the hour long interview G-Unit speaks on the infamous taped crying Young Buck conversation, the new EP and more.

Back in 2008, 50 Cent released a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck with a crying Buck begging to be let back into G-Unit due to monetary issues. Days after the tape’s release, Buck released a dis song towards 50 which had inflammatory lyrics towards 50:

Bit*h nigg*s do bit*h thangs/ Look at 50, what he do just to get fame/ Record my phone call when I spoke from the heart/ That was a year ago, this was a joke from the start/ You a ho, I know/ The only people that record conversations is 5-0.

Six years later during the SiriusXM special, Buck claims he never “felt no emotion” towards 50 Cent taping his phone conversation:

Honestly, to this day, I never felt no emotion or nothing bad. I think people took the part out of the conversation where I became emotional and made as if ‘oh, Buck’s crying. ‘ I’ve always looked at these as my brothers and at the time and everything I was speaking during that conversation was real.

50 Cent and G-Unit’s career was founded on a form of copyright infringement as they are known for making unauthorized remixes of other artists’ songs. 50 Cent says the decision to keep Drake on “Real Quick” was so fans “don’t fall in love with what we did and don’t like the actual artist”:

“0 To 100”, I got Drake to send it. [Laughs]. I called him. The record came out, I was like ‘send me that record. I need that.’ He sent it and then we chopped it up. That’s why we didn’t take him off it. We kept him on the record. So when you play it, you’re still playing a version of Drake’s record.

Check out the full hour-plus G-Unit special on SiriusXM below:

Dame Dash Responds To Jim Jones Calling Him A "Culture Vulture" (VIDEO)

By: Yohance Kyles (@HUEYmixwitRILEY)Category: Headlines

(AllHipHop News) Dame Dash sat down for interview to discuss his recent social media riff with Jim Jones. During the Q&A, Dame expressed whatever it was that sparked Jim to call him a culture vulture, s###, and punk is “family business.”

He also shares his belief that other people will “put a battery” in someone’s back for their own personal agenda.

[ALSO READ: Jim Jones Posts “F*ck N*ggaz” Message After Spat With Dame Dash]

“He’s my brother, and I don’t know why on any level why someone would disrespect me,” said Dame. “What it’s really about is in business, when it comes to Black people when they do business together, it doesn’t matter how much good stuff you do, if one thing is percieved as bad, it might even be misuderstood – Black people get very reactive instead of just talking it through.”

Dash adds that he has no problems with his longtime friend Jones, and he wishes that any person that has issues with him, including Curren$y and Beanie Sigel, would just come and talk to him about it.

The Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder says artists need to work together against the agenda of lawyers and other people he feels are trying to take advantage of creative individuals.

“I would be alright having a conversation with anyone that says that I owe them money. Just as long as it’s a civil conversation,” states Dame. “My intent is to never do bad business. My books are always open. I make people rich. That’s what I do.”

Dash goes on to suggest that representatives of Hip Hop need to stop disrespecting each other if they expect people outside the culture not to disrespect its artists. He calls on rappers to use OGs and mediators to help settle beefs so the culture will, as he puts it, stop looking crazy.

The Harlem mogul ends the interview promoting intelligence and peace over unnecessary violence.

[ALSO READ: Dame Dash’s Lawyer Wants To Quit For Lack Of Payments]

Watch Dame Dash’s interview below.