O1LT.COM **EXCLSUIVE INTERVIEW CONTINUED!!!

By L.T. Dinwiddie

O1LT: For those who don’t know who will contribute weekly columns to Hip-Hop Weekly?

Dave: We got a lot of great contributors in the magazine --Wendy Williams is doing a two-page column in every issue so she will be bringing all her gossip and inside information and unique perspective. Star and Buc Wild will be doing a page in the magazine every issue. We have Cynthia Horner who is the long time editor and chief of Right On and Black Beat magazine who is doing a column. The guys from mixtapekings.com will be doing a situation on a mixtapes in every issue. Sonny who is a pretty well known radio host here in NY who will is doing a food and dining column. There are few other people; we have a lot of really good contributors

O1LT: How challenging is to put together a weekly publication verses a monthly publication?

Dave: It’s a different beast, we are learning as we go along. It’s different but it’s actually an easier type of format once you understand it and organize it. Even though you have more frequency and a deadline every 8-10 days (next year we will go weekly, right now we are just a bi-weekly publication). There are a lot of advantages to this format that don’t exist in a monthly format like The Source.


O1LT: How involved are the two of you in the overall operations of Hip-Hop Weekly.?

Dave: Very involved, this our baby!! This is our new venture and a way of getting back into the multi-media and entertainment game. So this magazine is very much a daily focus for us.

O1LT: Considering all that you two have done for hip-hop - - at the height of The Source magazine controversy did you ever feel like people in hip hop community turned there backs on you?

Dave: Um..Yea! I think that I expected one or two influential people to step and support the issues that we raised; I think that it would have made a big difference. In retrospect I have learned to not expect that. I don’t have any bad feelings about it. I stand behind everything that we did. Are there things that I would do differently? Of course! Did I learn from my mistakes? Yes! I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years, but I hope to be able to apply what I’ve learned from those things to the new situation that I am launching now.

O1LT: Due to how you parted with The Source magazine is their any remaining conflict with other artists?

Dave: Not at all – Benzino and I have gotten a lot of love from artists and producers and the people of hip-hop for a long time. We have a long track record of giving and showing people a lot of love. We have touched a lot of people in every community across the United States. We’ve gotten good support and we expect to get even greater support. Every one who has seen the magazine loves it. It’s an outlet that is very much needed. With the support of the public buying the magazine, everything else will fall into place. I will say that this is a format that doesn’t really require the support of artist’s to make the magazine; this is format where you aren’t doing a lot of interviews or in depth stuff. It’s covering news and you don’t need to have the artists participating in the magazine. It would make it better if they do, but if they don’t it’s not a problem.

O1LT: Where do you see The Source going now that you two are no longer affiliated with the magazine?

Dave: I think it’s already shown to have gone down a lot. I think it’s changed a lot. People are seeing that the quality of the magazine has suffered. Ray and I had a vision and our personalities -- who we are is a lot of what made The Source what it was. When you take that away then you are left with something completely different. I don’t know what’s going to happen with them. I just know that Hip Hop Weekly is going to make a big impact. We have a lot of people have who read The Source over the years that are supporters of me and Benzino. And I think that those people will support us on this new venture. We will see what happens. We will see what the future holds.