When it comes to talking about Hip-Hop in the 90’s, that decade will always be surrounded in its on little time capsule. It was an era of massive creativity, legends being born, and a large variety of artists to choose from. Listening to Hip-Hop in the 90’s was probably the equivalent of buying fruit at a fruit stand. If you didn’t like apples, they had oranges, if you didn’t like oranges, they had bananas, and if you didn’t like bananas, then they had grapes. The only two things to overshadow this golden age were the tragic and senseless deaths of Tupac Shakur, and The Notorious B.I.G.

Everyone struggled to make sense of these horrific acts, but a lot of them could never come to terms with the situation. While everyone was still reeling over Tupac’s passing on the West Coast Brooklyn, New York was still trying to fathom the reality of never seeing one of its most celebrated sons again.

Its true that sometimes music heals all wounds, and Sean Combs released a remake of the Police’s classic song "I’ll Be Watching You" in honor of his fallen comrade, and a Grammy Award followed not long after. That song may have introduced many people to the world of Hip-Hop that weren’t familiar with it before, only because they could relate to timeless and distinguished sounds of Sting and The Police. But for the people that were well in-tune with Hip-Hop from birth, they needed their own authentic tribute song to remember the greatest of all time. That song would come on the LOX’s debut album Money, Power, and Respect, and it was called "We’ll Always Love Big Poppa".

The man behind it was Harlem-born producer, Damon “Dame Grease” Blackmon. After that breakout hit, he continued to blaze a trail for himself with extensive work on DMX’s albums, along with Mase’s debut album. He also sold over 30,000,000 records in the process and scored movies like; Turn It Up with Ja Rule and Pras, Never Die Alone with DMX and David Arquette, Exit Wounds with DMX and Steven Segal, and Cradle To The Grave with DMX and Jet Li.

Today he hasn’t missed a beat, cranking out the major hit, "Big Spender" with Freeway featuring Jay-Z as he continues to assist fellow Harlem natives The Diplomats with their sound needs. Dame Grease is truly one story on how one person’s tragedy can turn into another person’s triumph.

When you first started producing, was there anyone else out at the time that you studied?

I was always a fan of people like The Bomb Squad, [Dr.] Dre. I was just a fan of them from all around, from the raps and the tracks. Because I used to rap first.

Really? You used to rap first? I don't think I knew that. So what’s the whole idea behind Vacant Lot? What do you plan to accomplish?

That’s pretty much where I grew up at. Harlem back in the days, had a bunch of vacant lots everywhere, and vacant lots were like our playgrounds and sh*t. It was basically a whole Harlem mentality of street n***as, so I just put that with the sound of music, and that’s the way it came. And now its Vacant Lot Music.

I dig that. Speaking of the music business, what’s your take on artist development? Do you think its been forgotten over the years?

Yeah. Because right now, people ain’t developing artists, and that’s what makes a lot of artists come out and be the same thing. Not to discredit any music, because I f**k with everything. Back in the day you had more characteristic-artists; you had people like Ludacris and Snoop [Dogg]. And with people like that, you get long lasting artists, not just these people that come in and out. They come in with a quick joint, and then they’re outta here, because they ain’t got no artist development. They don’t know how to take something to the next level, because they don’t know much. They know what they know, and do what they do, and it’s a wrap. But artist development promotes longevity and builds character. Not just another rapper.  

That was well said. What would you say are some of the major changes you’ve noticed in production over the last ten years?

Well ain’t nobody doing nothing-new man. I’m always doing something, and I set a lot of trends for people to follow. A lot of producers have been doing things that have been done before, especially with the software equipment boom. Right now you really have a lot of guys sounding the same because they’re using the same software.

So how about you? What do you use?

I actually use everything, like everything. From MPC’s, to keyboards, Fruity Loops, Garage Band, Reason, and SP 1200’s. I got everything hooked up. Name the equipment, and I got it all hooked up.

What’s one piece of equipment you can’t live without?

I use my MPC 3000, that’s the brain.

The majority of artists you’ve worked with so far have been from the East Coast. Do you plan on reaching out to other regions as well?

I actually work with artists from everywhere. On Yukmouth’s recent album Godzilla, I did three tracks on there. I also did DJ Drama’s first single "Feds Takin’ Pictures" with T.I., Young Buck, [Young] Jeezy, and Rick Ross. Yukmouth is on the West Coast, and those other people are located down South. So I do work with everybody. 

How much do you think you’ve evolved as a producer? Do you take a lot more chances now?

Well its not the same because it’s a different year, its 2008 so it’s a different time. Even back then, I was always an innovative producer. So I even took chances back then with X’s albums. Doing things like creating an album that was small, but it was like a movie. I took a chance with that, and the chance worked. So I’m still doing that, I’m still on he edge when I’m doing my music. And my music is some of the most edgiest music that you’re going to hear.  

At any point in your career, did you ever find it difficult to get your beats heard to the right people?

Well a couple years ago I went through a dry spell where I was just laying back, and just really regrouping and sh*t. I just really fell back, and actually I was only doing tracks for Dipset at the time. Then I just shot back out there and did "Feds Takin’ Pictures" and "Big Spender", the Freeway and Jay-Z joint, you know what I’m saying. It wasn’t a part of me not being able to shop the beats, it was a part of me getting my strategy down to see what I wanted to accomplish.

So is that the reason why you dropped off the radar for a while?

Yeah I had to fall back you know what I’m saying, the game changed. And when the game changes, you can’t stay the same; you got to change with the game. But once your set in your ways in this music industry, you don’t allow yourself to grow, and there’s no such thing as change. And you have to grow with the game. Plus if you have a long standing in the game already, you can say: “This is what I’m doing now.”

So even though I came out on ’96 with "We’ll Always Love Big Poppa" and now in 2008, I got things coming out front and center. You just have to know what the climate is out there; you got to know what the hustle is. And one thing people know me for is I’m a real n***a. I was a real n***a back then, and I’m a real n***a now. I f**ks with them, and they f**ks with me; so you know, its like that.

I hear you. So what’s the process like when you’re creating? Do you like to work alone? Or do you like to have the artist in the there also?

Its both, you know what I’m saying. Really though, when I’m sitting in my studio I’ll have a pound of sour diesel, turn my phone off for a little bit turn the computer off for a little bit, sit back and get in my zone, and just crank out material. But sometimes when I’m with an artist, we’ll just sit back and crank some sh*t out, and do what we do. 

Speaking of doing what you do with the artist, in recent years, producers have become just as well known as the artists. Do you think there is any particular reason for that?

I’m not going to say that producers are recognized more than the artists, but me being a producer as well as other producers in the game; we are writers also. A rapper writes 50% of the song and a producer writes 50% of the song. And it’s just that now producers are being recognized because a lot of them are writing 50% on top of 50%. You have people like Kanye West and Swizz Beats, because they’re artists also.

Like with me, somebody will spit over my track and then I might come in singing the hook. So it’s not that producers are recognized more, its just people are seeing something that’s always been there, but never got to see it before.