Do you think Dame Dash breakfast club interview ending up helping or hurting the blacc community?

[UnQuantized]

It was a necessary conversation, a seed that needed to be planted but the messaging was misguided.

 

[BrothaZay]

This.
I think Dame was 100% correct.

You’re a moron.

 

[TMBlue]

You’re a moron.

 

[MJ Truth]

If it isn’t money then what are we talkin about? When you die, do you wanna pass down $2 Million to your bloodline or 4 failed businesses?

This response isn’t a serious one.

 

[BruhManFromTheFifthFlo]

The memes alone was worth it.

 

[69 others]

This.

As an accountant, I can tell you I'm doing better than 90% of my friends who own their own businesses and are "bosses." People keep acting like bossing up means that you'll become successful and be able to build generational wealth but that's usually not the case at all.

Businesses have a very high turnover and failure rate and many business owners wound up having to work a side job for "another man" just to make ends meet.

I have friends and relatives who own different businesses including barbershops, hair salons, print shops, restaurants, auto shops, roofing/plumbing businesses, accounting firms, etc. and the majority of them are still living paycheck to paycheck regardless of the fact that they're the ones cutting the check. They're actually generally worse off than the people I know who work 9-5's, work at Fortune 500 companies, or work as managers for various businesses.

People hear the word "boss" and it sounds alluring and conjures up a certain image but this image is largely an illusion. Only a minority of business owners get to live up to that image and the average one still lives a regular life, deals with tons of stress, and is still only getting by without much disposable income.

While I don't think a Dame Dash interview on Breakfast Club is impactful enough to do anything to the Black community, I do think that Dame lacked nuance on the topic at hand which made certain Black people run with the "boss" or "CEO" image and narrative without viewing it on a comprehensive level. Business owners are just as likely if not more likely to work long hours and have sleepless nights to make money than the average 9-5 guy.

I don't see how you can argue enough black people even know who Dame Dash is or heard the interview to claim it helped/hurt the community, collectively. Bigger issue in my mind is that plenty of black people believed shyt like that long before Dame said it and even more believe it now. If you've been to a barbershop at any point in the last 15 years you've heard that sentiment. When I graduated college and was telling my (former) barber about the good new job I'd be starting soon, he asked me why I was excited about working for someone else instead of creating my own business. Mind you, this was a guy who sold Amway shyt out the trunk of his car.

A few more trips to the shop and hearing other people get put down for achieving made me realize this is a coping mechanism, and a part of being a hater. Most people don't start a small business. Most small businesses that do get started fail within a few months. So when someone asks you why you haven't started a business, odds are they do not have a business OR they had a failed business. On the flip side, most middle and upper class people in this country work a 9-5 for a company or boss. If you're a young mail breh working at the Post Office making 50k a year, you have a boss. If you're working IT at a company making 60k a year, you have a boss. If you're a doctor at a hospital making 200k a year, you have a boss. If you're an attorney at a big law firm making 500k a year...you have a boss. The way certain people in the community denigrate the "9-5" is very disturbing to me. We've got people who think you either work at McDonalds, sell drugs, go to the NBA, or start a business. That's insanity...

The risk isn't the issue...

Lot of our people don't like to play the background..

Would rather have 5 different "bosses" than to make a collective and slide into a role that's best suited for them..

the avg business owner makes around 60K per year. most business owners own a job.

I notice a lot of the "boss" talk is from people who were employees in non-professional or blue-collar jobs where a boss or manager can be more of an overseer.
For instance, I had one of these "bosses" (even though he had a job) tell me how he doesn't want to beg to go on vacations or take lunch.
Had to explain to him that I've never had to do either and don't know anyone in a professional job that had to.
to take vacation input your days off in a time tracking system and give your team a heads up.
to eat lunch or a snack: walk away from your goddamn desk
feeling sick: send an email if you can and stay your ass home. you can enter sick days in the time-tracking system when you return

I think a lot of these folks are just traumatized from shytty jobs and see being a boss as the only solution.

Another thing about some of these "boss" types is that they seem to be driven only by ego. There is never talk about providing products or services that are needed in the community or even employing people within the community. It's just about being a boss cause well a boss is a boss and it's better than being a worker.

 

[Mac Ten]

Dame ain't still make a another Hov...yet.

He should have learned how to read the room and not say everything that comes to his mind.

If he had did that, he would still be getting money with Jay.

 

[UberEatsDriver]

This.
I think Dame was 100% correct.

You need to have the financial backings to talk like that. Many dudes in the hood have this mentality and nothing to show for it

 

[TMBlue]

the avg business owner makes around 60K per year. most business owners own a job.

I notice a lot of the "boss" talk is from people who were employees in non-professional or blue-collar jobs where a boss or manager can be more of an overseer.
For instance, I had one of these "bosses" (even though he had a job) tell me how he doesn't want to beg to go on vacations or take lunch.
Had to explain to him that I've never had to do either and don't know anyone in a professional job that had to.
to take vacation input your days off in a time tracking system and give your team a heads up.
to eat lunch or a snack: walk away from your goddamn desk
feeling sick: send an email if you can and stay your ass home. you can enter sick days in the time-tracking system when you return

I think a lot of these folks are just traumatized from shytty jobs and see being a boss as the only solution.

Another thing about some of these "boss" types is that they seem to be driven only by ego. There is never talk about providing products or services that are needed in the community or even employing people within the community. It's just about being a boss cause well a boss is a boss and it's better than being a worker.

To some people, freedom is the most important thing in the world. An adult asking another adult for a day off, or for a break will never sit right with them. You don't have to beg for a raise, bust your ass, and hope the manager recognizes that when that yearly review comes up. If somebody prefers that life, more power to them, but some of us want to be masters of our own fate.

 

[TMBlue]

You need to have the financial backings to talk like that. Many dudes in the hood have this mentality and nothing to show for it

True, but they gotta do whatever it takes to get to that point.

 

[MidwestD]

Dame's net worth has been in the negative millions for nearly 2 decades now,
he clearly can't run a successful business. People takin his advice/acting like him most def. hurts,
not helps

 

[Noriega]

Proud employee


Steady consistent pay cheques.
Zero stress in terms of securing contracts
Paid time off
Pension plan
Benefit plan
Work/life balance
share purchase plan

This. I know every 2 weeks I have a check, money going into a union funded pension, benefits

I have no issues going to work and punching the clock

 

[Complexion]

It feels like a quarter of all the running jokes on the Coli stem from this interview

This is so on point. Dame breathed new life into the Coli with:

• Being from Harlem
• Another Man
• Boss talk, with or without the certs
• Chatty Patty
• Pause. Both the term and smiley
• Countless gifs/remixes

As well as the entire etherous reality check of ownership, the nature of business and entrepreneurship, growth and countless other topics. To deny his influence on this corner of the web would be disingenuous.

 

[Afro]

MY SON HAS COOKIES!

That interview cracks me up to this day

OH yea, people were like, that wasn't a boss move.

"It's co-owned by a cac so it doesn't count"

Smh.

 

[feelosofer]

Hurt.

Dame meant well but the problem is he doesn't tell the whole story. Rocafella was built with drug money, its not he and Jay sold lemonade (I'm being facetious).

Nothing wrong with starting a business but the fact of the matter is we as a people need to take our time. Learn how to be employees, build skills and then use that accrued experiences to build a proper business and this isn't brow beating but Black businesses revenue accounts for about 1% of all business. So we have to move smarter. No point in having a bunch of LLCs that are sole proprietorships making less than 30000 a year.

One thing that I also don't think get's touched on enough is how hard it is to get funding as a Black business as well. I've had to take out home equity loans a couple of times to hire people.

I'm not saying don't start a business but what I am saying is that a lot of us don't know the proper risk or protocol. Risk taking is fine, go for the gusto just be calculated is what I am saying.