Meet Dame Dozha

We recently connected with Dame Dozha and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dame , appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I come from a large family, countless cousins, several siblings and I at one time was the baby who got everything. There was also a time that I lost nearly everything losing a parent in my early teen years. As an adolescent, having more than most and then losing it and readjusting to a life of have not, taught me resilience and to work hard for what I want. I learned early in life that you can have everything one day and lose it the next and the world will keep spinning, so I that lesson made me strong, independent, resilient and driven. I raised myself pretty much buy my father’s guidance and spirit lived on in me, he always kept me close when he was alive and let me make my own decisions and deal with the consequences of my actions as a child. Early on as a child, I realized that I was a popular people person but I also loved my solitude. I also realized through school that I have an influence on those around me and I find ways to relate to all walks of life. The losts & lessons I’ve experienced early in life, molded me to be a go-getter, be sure on what I want in life, and my ability to bounce back or rise above hurdles that present themselves in my journey.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m Brian D. Jones aka Dame Dozha, an executive music producer with hundreds of projects created. I had aspirations of being an entertainer since I was a child, mimicking actors, scenes, dance routines of rappers and just keeping a expansive historic account of the hip hop culture. I studied & followed my big brother who was also into music as a DJ, Rapper & promoter early in his adolescence, and that shaped and gave me extensive knowledge and sense of purpose within the music industry. By the time I was a senior in high school I had developed my moniker Dame Dozha, after I promoted & hosted my own Graduation party but I had intentions on branding myself early. I went on to attend Florida A&M University, and stop going by my first name and took the personality of my persona Dame Dozha, a name which was inspired by Dame Dash of Roca-fella Music empire. Freshmen year in college, had me daylighting as a music promoter for my brother’s music circle “The Duval Ballers” and I was an early advocate for highlighting the music scene of my hometown Jacksonville, Fl. The first artist I remember promoting and being inspired by besides my brother 2slick was T-Rone who later had a hit song “Hello Love” that garnered him a deal with Cash Money Records. I gained my pride and began to build my team during this time and my friend circle were hustling cds out of our dorms. A few years later when we moved off campus, I began writing music and recording my best friend Quan on my roommates computer, which later developed into Quan becoming “Yun Quan”, my first artist/business partner and we started our label/rap group, Street Entertainment. Street Entertainment launched the group “Street” in Tallahassee Florida in 2005 and we went on to releasing nearly a hundred projects and selling over 50,000 cds by hand. I learned the importance of camaraderie, teamwork, consistency, and quality/quantity aspects that molded my music knowledge to be highly effective in my next venture.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Networking & Team Building, Setting Goals, Planning & Following Through, Being Honest with myself & Authentic.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I love manifesting dreams and turning ideas into brands. I’m inspired by production and intrigue by perspectives and practices that are used to gain success. Having like minded creative a dependable friends are both important and inspiring to me, so partnering up or working along with a team is always apart of the strategy of relevance.
I’m interested in collaborating with those that are experienced and assertive with desires on building as a conglomerate or young interns who are willing to learn & enhanced their skills as a creative.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Photography credit to JayLeeTV

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