The DMV Daily Interviews: Dime Dada

 DimeDada Discusses Artist Management, Entrepreneurship, and more.

So I’m most familiar with your work from Lets TalkDMV where you interviewed a lot of guys who are now stars coming out this area. How does it feel to see all these artists progress so much since 2016?

DimeDada:         I mean it feels good. I mean, it’s crazy I met my main artist, which is Goonew at my Big Flock interview. And that was the first time we ever met in person. We was cool before that through the internet but, then we locked in. So it feels good. I mean I dropped out of college as a sophomore, started blogging and now two years later, I’m managing.

 

How long have you been his only manager? Did you start managing him as soon as he started rappin’?
I started managing him four months into his rap career. When he first started, I think Cheecho was his manager.Then I was his manager … he was always MONYPWRspt but as far as the business side it wasn’t all the way there yet. But when he started blowing up, he was managed by someone else now … I’m his full time manager.

 

So I was reading through your Twitter. You have a really interesting Twitter.. And one of the tweets that stood out to me is you talked about how, in this male dominated industry, women can’t be women? What did you mean by that?

I mean, it is a male dominated industry, that’s just the music industry for real. I’m usually the only woman in the room, and then usually, it’ll be niggas and they’ll look at everybody in the room, and if they nod at me they probably think I’m somebody’s bitch or somethin’. Not even knowing who I am. It’s always those type of scenarios. I always run into them. Most times they try to, project their voice or get over or, be extra stern with me, because I’m a woman. But, I always got people around me that make sure that don’t go too far.

 

Looking at your Twitter account, you talked about your Rolling Loud experience and how things have really changed a lot over the past year. So what have been some of your funnest experiences and your biggest accomplishments within the past year?
My biggest accomplishment in the past year? My artists keep going viral. I got my Real estate license. I mean, I’m in a completely different space than I was in last year. Complete opposite. It’s the second quarter now- We completely crushed the first quarter of the year, and the second quarter is getting crazy.

 

Got you. So you mentioned all the things you’ve done in the last year and it seems like you’re extremely motivated. What’s an average day in your life like? And how do you get so much done?Id on’t have to baby artists, they’re self productive. I don’t have to say “go post this picture. He’s already self productive which makes my job ten times easier. In a day, I probably wake up to probably 15, 20 unread text messages.M y email has nothing but beats and shit in there. And interview inquiries. I pick through those,and see what’s really worth something.

 

Another tweet I read of yours talked about having meetings that were sort of meaningless. They didn’t amount to nothing. What are some of the more productive meetings you’ve had?
Dimedada:      I haven’t had a productive meeting in the DMV.

 

Damn, that’s terrible.

Not one person that has came to me and said they wanna have a meeting with me has been about shit. Out of every person that’s tried to link up with me and do business, every person that’s tried to put me under them, even people I’ve tried to put under me, it don’t work. But the thing is for you to become one of my clients, I have consultation meetings. Those cost money.Those are probably the only successful (meetings). And at that point you probably spent money so it’s a good meeting regardless, but outside of that, people just want to talk-in the DMV be like, “Let’s have a meeting” so they can steal your ideas.

 

So where do you do most of your business at?
I mean, most of the business is in the DMV area and Georgia but we travel to wherever the business goes. Like right now we in New York.

 

 Who inspires you in the, stuff that you’re doin’ in terms of business? And what got you into real estate?
I can answer that all at once. My mom’s been in real estate since the 80s, the 90s.
My mom owned a mortgage company when I was about eight all the way until I was 14. The real estate industry collapsed in 2008 and then since then, she’s always been a hustler. You know she invests in stocks and build up businesses on the side. But then music, my grandfather is a famous musician in Nigeria. His name is Sonny Okosun. So he was a famous musician in Nigeria and he toured the world when I was a kid. My family has always owned music studios. My dad was doing music management  and then he started investing in clubs. So music and then business has always been in my make up.So it was always going to be all music or all business or both.

 

What sort of advice would you give to any women who are trying to make a way in the industry or looking into branding or working with an artist?
Be true to yourself. Be true to your brand Try to make an image and try [not] to fake an image is way harder than just being real, know what I’m sayin’? Just being yourself. Being authentic is the easiest way to make money.