He may, at times, be unfiltered with his approach, but Dame Dash is a man who knows his business. The media mogul has been diversifying his portfolio for years by investing in various companies and artists, increasing his profits at every turn. Dash even recently told Complex that he's working on an album under a new name: Billy Pablo the Third. That isn't the only venture that Dash has on the horizon, as he chatted with the publication about his shopping network DDTV and his recently relaunched streaming service, Dame Dash Studios.
His streaming platform already reportedly includes new programming from Talib Kweli, Kanye West, and comedian Torrei Hart. The layout of the site is much like that of Netflix or Hulu, with a subscription price that's about the same. "There are docu-series like the Anthony Bourdain-type of thing where we run around the world and we went to China," he says of the network."We went to Jamaica. We have scripted premium programming, and that's Honor Up."
"Then there's Rocky [Ed. Note—Raquel Horn, Dame’s girlfriend], who has a cooking show," he continued. "There is so much. There is music. There is everything that everyone else has, but way more swaggier and without a filter. More authentic. I’ve got the OG series where I’m interviewing everyone that defines me and my mentality and people I respect. In the first episode, I have Calvin Klein. I got Dash Diabetes, which is all about me as a diabetic and the evolution that comes with it and making sure people understand how to evolve their care. As I learn something, I teach it. Then there's the Culture Vulture stuff. There is everything. Then there's a lot of the history and the things I was doing before."
Dash also spoke on owning his ex-wife Rachel Roy's clothing company, saying that it "bugs me out" that no one ever mentions anything about it. "I've been owning that for the last 10 years. It’s fashion and it’s a $100 million company, but for some reason, everyone just sweeps that one under the rug," he says. "I don't know why. But the reason why I was getting to that is phase one is the streaming, but phase two is the shop-and-buy, and that's where while you're watching programming, you can actually buy what you see. That’s the second phase. Then the third phase is cable, just for perception for the old heads, but I really think that’s a dinosaur. I think it’s important to have a direct-to-consumer relationship. You know what I mean? My new name now is Billy Pablo the Third."