DX: You've obviously had your frustrations with the major label game in recent years, and spoke out pretty strongly about the way Janet's labels failed to promote her projects properly. Do you think urban music has less respect for veteran artists than rock does for bands like the Rolling Stones?
JD: Yeah, totally, and I’m still trying to figure out why. I think it’s the people who are guiding the ships who aren’t paying attention to the veterans. I blame the label presidents, because they don’t treat [urban music legends] like they treat The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones’ last record didn’t sell shit, but they’re still treated like royalty, while Michael Jackson can’t even get a record deal right now. Prince isn’t really signed to a record company right now. The people that owned these companies back in the day had more love for music than the people who run them today.

DX: What do you think major labels need to do in order to adapt to the changes facing the music industry today?
JD: Let younger people run ‘em!

DX: What’s your overall mission for the TAG Records label?
JD: My mission is to use this platform in the right way, to create artists with the potential to have at least three or four hit albums under their belt. That’s first and foremost. Secondly, I want to create music that people really like, and I’ve never had too much trouble doing that. [Laughs] But most importantly, I want to create a stable of artists that the fans truly like, because every other record that comes out, people are mad at the artists. Like when I put out this new artist, Rocko [click to read], nine times out of 10, the blogs that I read were calling him fake and cheesy. So I’m trying to find that artist that people are gonna connect with. People feel like rap music is just the same ol’ thing over and over again, and they’re tired of all the hustlers. We’re all looking for the next Biggies and Tupacs instead of acknowledging that incredible artists like that just don’t get discovered every day. That’s why there’s only one Biggie, one Tupac, one Jay-Z. We gotta get the idea of finding artists like that out of our minds and focus on building incredible artists. Fans are impatient: If OutKast came out with Southernplayalisticadillacmusik today, do you think audiences would even give them a chance?

No way.

They’d tear them down before they even got an opportunity to create Speakerboxxx/The Love Below. What Soulja Boy did was incredible– he wrote all his lyrics, produced his own album and created his own hype at the age of 16, got a record deal, sold a platinum album and a shitload of ringtones in today’s market. He created a positive and lucrative movement, but people still say his music is crap and talk shit about him! Give the kid an opportunity to turn into somebody! It was his first album! He’s 16! Let’s give him a chance and see what he turns into, not knock him down before he even gets an opportunity to prove himself.

DX: What advantage does teaming with a company like TAG provide to the artists who sign with you, as opposed to a traditional label?
JD: Well, I have a marketing budget like nobody’s ever had. That’s the craziest thing. Artists are always looking for sponsorship, but with this they’re automatically coming out of the box with sponsorship, so you’ll see that artist in commercials, hear them on radio spots, basically whatever TAG Body Spray does to promote their product.

DX: How do you think this, and Jay-Z's new deal with Live Nation, are emblematic of the ways artists can benefit from the new music industry business model?
JD: What this deal does for me personally is to create excitement within the music industry. The industry has lost that sense of excitement. That’s what I liked about going to Island Def Jam– the label itself was newsworthy and people were always writing about what was going on at the label and who was gonna be the next president. That creates excitement. When I announced the TAG deal, it was a little overwhelming to me because I didn’t think people were gonna get hyped up like that. But now people are excited to see what I do with this music and where I take this label, because hopefully it’s gonna be the stepping stone for the next era. Apple keeps the computer business exciting every time they put out new products, and I think me and Jay-Z have pumped some freshness into the music business.