DX: When you do so much for the up and coming artists, how did it feel when it was expressed that some of your production had in fact been down to Kanye?
DD: Well that hurt me a little bit, but that is Kanye. The way he is now is the way he was in 1996 when I met him; very energetic, very hungry and very motivated to succeed and not necessarily making the best decisions when it comes to his words and actions. But I knew he was going to be big and be a success. The thing that bothered me was ‘ghost producing’ and I had to have a chat with him to explain that if anything, I ghost produced for him. He didn’t understand and as I explained to him, someone who sits on a drum machine all day and makes a track isn’t a producer; they are a beat maker. I explained to him that if anything I ghost produced for him as he got to sit at home and make the track then he would hear his song, a full finished song that is a smash hit, spinning 5-10,000 times a week on the radio all because of D Dot. I put the artist on it, I helped write the lyrics and the hook, I mixed the record, I did over dubs on the record which means post-production to make it bigger, I, even through my connections at the time, put big name artists or singers on the records to help bring it to another level. So when you look at the amount of work I did to make that song that I did, to make that song a hit and the amount of work he did to make the song a hit, you would almost think that I was the ghost-producer. I did tell him that the term was a little disrespectful but I understood that he is a very emotional guy, but I explained to him "Ghost is not seen," his name appeared on all the records and you would never see a D Dot record without Kanye’s name attached to it if it we did it together. That would never happen as I don’t do business like that. He has got all his publishing, you have never heard him come out to magazines and say, "D Dot sold my publishing," and I have never taken any money. He has always had his checks from his songs, he has had all his credits and all his percentages, his splits were correct. We have since talked about it and everything is good and we have a great relationship now.

DX: Do you think it really was down to his hunger and ambition?
DD: I think that is part of it and he is also a very good marketing person. He knows how to attract attention to himself. If you sit and ask Kanye, "Has Deric ever stolen any money from you, or has he ever done anything to you business wise that you could have sued him for?" The answer would be no. So then the question becomes, "Why did he keep saying ghost producer, ghost producer?" and I think it made him look a lot bigger to the world and my name is so big and who else could he have possibly been under that could have attracted that much attention at the time. Back then, The Neptunes weren’t that big, it was really Puff Daddy, Jermaine Dupri [click to read], D Dot, DJ Premier and a few other people, and Kanye was up under me. I think that he just did it because he is a very emotional guy and also because he is very smart, and he knows how to attract attention to himself and a lot of his moves are premeditated.

DX: When American Gangster [click to read] dropped last fall, Sean C and LV were being hailed as the ‘new’ Hitmen. You were considered captain of the Hitmen back in the day, was that like a slap in the face being that the days of the real Hitmen are a pivotal point in Hip Hop?
DD: I don’t think, as I haven’t worked at Bad Boy since 1998. I haven’t been a Hitman since 2000. Puffy and I have been best of friends since 1987. I am going to be 40 years old in July. It wasn’t a slap in the face, it was just time for Puffy to move on, but by the way, Sean C and LV [click to read] are not Hitmen, that was just Puffy trying to reinvigorate an era that a lot of people like yourself, and from MTV and BET and all these various magazines, that era was very special to people and a lot of people to these days cherish those times. A lot of people don’t want to let that go, and Puffy is trying to capitalize off that by finding new Hitmen, but those days are kind of over. Sean C and LV are like best friends to me, they helped Puffy make a Jay-Z album that he needed the help with, and that was it. They are not Hitmen to this day, they don’t move as Hitmen, and there are no Hitmen at this point right now and anyone who wants to be a Hitmen, the first question they ask is about me. Continued on page 4 »