Some myths about how business is actually done need to be dispelled here.
If any of you have ever worked in finance, or witnessed the daily operations of a trading floor where literally
tens of billions of dollars in value are exchanged on a daily basis, you know that handshake deals are par for the course.
Once a trader tells another trader "done" over the phone, the deal is
done. His word is his bond. Or he'll never work anywhere again.
Do the back-office folks eventually catch up with the paperwork? Sure. But that can take a whole damn quarter to reconcile.
Meanwhile, that same security can be traded away the next day, bought again the following week, sold again the following month...all on the strength of a phone conversation.
In the meantime, each party to the transaction writes down exactly what he bought (or sold), who he transacted with, and when the transaction took place.
We had a major financial crisis less than 10 years ago. How many mortgage traders went back on their word, trying to claim they never bought those subprime mortgages? How many traders who sold credit default swaps or put options tried to back out of their obligations when the financing & equities markets crashed and companies were going bankrupt left and right?
None. Hundreds of billions of dollars in losses, and yet none of them tried to weasel on what were mostly verbal agreements made quicker than any back-office could hope to catch up to in real-time.
Dame clearly approaches business in the same way. To him, what's important is establishing and nurturing the relationship with an artist, and focusing on the work. Not making sure every "i" is dotted and every "t" is crossed. He assumes that those he works with are similarly focused, and will pay what they owe when they're able.
Dame's approach has mostly worked in his favor. There's a reason that
he was the one who discovered & promoted Kanye - while his competitors were spending their time thinking of ways to design the perfect recording contract to maximally exploit rappers & singers, Dame was establishing a real relationship and spending actual time and effort helping Kanye develop as an artist.
I sense more than a little
from nikkas on here when Dame and his approach to business comes up. As though he isn't intelligent or sophisticated enough to put together recording contracts and financing agreements.
Is the dude loud? Yes. Obnoxious? Absolutely. But he isn't stupid.
Dame had every right to pull up on Lee. There are some real shameless nikkas out there - or at least shameless in their private dealings. Sometimes, putting them on blast in front of their social set is the only way to force them to do the right thing.
nikkas really hating on dame.
