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A "Golden Era" Hip-Hop Artist Reflects

By Tori L. Scarborough
Black College Wire

"A Blast from the Past: An Old School Hip-Hop reunion," featured Big Daddy Kane, Sweet Tee, Chubb Rock, Special Ed, Dana Dane, Kurtis Blow, Whodini, the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Melle Mel and Scorpio, and Busy Bee all on one stage in Washington during the fall semester.

Dane, whose album breakthrough in 1987 makes him one of the artists from that hip-hop golden era, agreed to an interview.

www.danadane.com Dana Dane has a new album with 18 independent artists.

Q. How was it to perform with the old school hip-hop artists?

Dane: It was hot. I always like to perform with all the old heads.

Q. Would it be possible to do a concert with the new-school artists like Jay-Z, P. Diddy or some other artists from the new hip-hop era?

Dane: Yeah, definitely. Doug E. Fresh and Slick [Rick] have been involved with doing concerts with the new-school artists, so if the opportunity was there, I would be glad to do it.

Q. What are some of your new projects?

Dane: I have a new album that I have been working on that is now finished. The album is a collaboration with 18 independent artists who have been trying to get into the business for years, so I gave them a chance on my album.

Q. Who produced it?

Dane: Mark "Boogie" Brown, RZA (from the Wu-Tang Clan), Kwame and Fresh Gordan.

Q. How many tracks do you have on the album?

Dane: There are 14 cuts. The album has not been released officially, but right now I am selling the album on my Web site, www.danadane.com, until I get some things worked out with some distribution companies and independent record labels.

Q. Only one female artist performed at the concert. Who are some of the other female artists you would have liked to seen?

Dane: Oh, wow, I would have loved to have seen M.C. Lyte; Salt 'N Pepa, although Salt is the one that may not perform again because she is 'saved' now, I would really like for them to come out of retirement and get out there and do some shows. That would be great. And Roxanne. She won't perform anymore because she is a psychologist and she said she is fine making the money she needs with her patients.

Q. VH1 recently did a tribute to the hip-hop artists. Do you think that they did a good representation with the tribute?

Dane: The VH1 special did not capitalize on the hip-hop artists that were at the show. I was there along with others, and we were not highlighted. Some of the artists who were there they did not give cameos to. The documentary was powered by the powers that be. There were people that were interviewed and some who were missed. I mean, it will be impossible to get everyone in the hip-hop industry on one show. Not one book, show or concert will be able to get everybody.

Q. A few of the artists from the "golden era" of hip-hop tried their hands at acting and some went on and had successful acting careers. Have you ever tried acting or wanted to act?

Dane: Naw, not really. I never thought about acting. Although I did try out for a couple of parts with Spike Lee, but it never really materialized.

Q. How would you say that the rap game has changed since you were out there 15 or 20 years ago?

Dane: Well, interestingly enough, the industry has come full circle. When we started, we had to produce our records independently because the major record labels were not interested in us like that. Now, major record labels are interested, but they either have already signed their artists, or we know better and won't take what they are giving us and demand much more. So we do our records independently.

Q. You know I have to ask you the cliché, what advice do you have for current students trying to get into the rap industry?

Dane: People need to know their leverage. They need to know their worth. When you go into it, you must be wise in your decisions and know what you are doing. There are a lot of books out there that we did not have access to. We did not know our worth, so we went into it blindly. Unfortunately . . . we got burned. So I would say to young people to definitely know your self-worth.

Tori L. Scarborough is a student at Howard University who writes for The Hilltop.

Posted Jan. 10, 2005