Dame Grease facts for kids

Damon J. Blackman (born August 9, 1974), known as Dame Grease or simply Grease, is an American music producer from New York City. He became well-known in the hip hop world in 1996. This happened through his work with Bad Boy and The LOX. He also helped create the unique sound for artists like DMX and the record label Ruff Ryders.

Music career

Early Career and Vacant Lot (1996–2006)

Dame Grease has produced music for many artists. He worked a lot with the hip hop group The LOX. His music helped them become popular and get a record deal with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in 1996.

Grease produced several songs on The LOX's first album, Money, Power & Respect. This included the popular song We'll Always Love Big Poppa. He also worked on fellow Bad Boy artist Mase's album Harlem World (1997), which sold over four million copies (called "quadruple platinum").

This success led Dame Grease to become the main music producer for DMX's first album, It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998). He produced thirteen of the nineteen songs on that album. Through this project, Grease helped Ruff Ryders Entertainment build its strong image in music. During this time, Grease also guided Swizz Beatz, who later became another famous producer.

Dame Grease then signed a deal with Priority Records. This allowed him to release music through his own record label, called Vacant Lot. He chose this even though he had offers to join other famous production teams.

In 1999, Dame Grease produced two songs for Tricky's album Juxtapose.

From 2001, Dame Grease started creating music for movies. He composed the score (the background music) for films like Exit Wounds (2001), which starred Steven Seagal and DMX. He also worked on Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), starring Jet Li and DMX, and Never Die Alone (2004).

Grease also worked with DMX on the soundtrack for "Ain't No Sunshine." This was a new version of the classic song by Bill Withers.

Throughout 2004 and 2005, Grease continued to produce music for various artists. These included LL Cool J, Kelis, Slick Rick, and others. In 2006, Dame Grease produced "Life Be My Song" for DMX's album Year of the Dog... Again.

After the Break (2007–2013)

After a short break, Dame Grease returned to music in 2007. He produced "Takin' Pictures" for DJ Drama, which featured many popular artists. He also produced Freeway's song Big Spender (featuring Jay-Z). Grease worked on several songs for Hell Rell's first album, For the Hell of It.

In 2009, Dame Grease produced "Lamborghini Dreams" for Curren$y.

In a 2010 radio interview, Dame talked about upcoming projects with The LOX and DMX. He also mentioned a project with Max B that would combine Max's music with unreleased verses from famous rappers Notorious B.I.G. and 2 Pac.

That same year, he worked with Magix Music Maker, a software company. They created a special music software called the Grease-A-Lizer. This software lets users make their own music tracks using special sounds and loops created by Dame Grease. It was released on March 15, 2010.

Dame Grease continued to produce music for French Montana in 2010. He also opened his own studio, Lot Musik Recording Studio. This studio was created to help new, young music artists.

Dame Grease released his own album, Goon Musik, in 2011. It included the song "Sour Diesel" featuring N.O.R.E. and Styles P. He also produced "All Night" for French Montana's mixtape Mister 16: Casino Life. Dame was the main producer for DMX's seventh album, Undisputed, released in September 2012.

In December 2012, Dame Grease met Riff Raff while working on DMX's album. A few days later, Riff Raff recorded Hologram Panda in just seven hours. The mixtape version came out on December 12, 2012, and the album version was released on April 4, 2013.

In 2013, Dame Grease started working with the "New Outlaw Order." This group is connected to 2pac's Outlawz. In 2014, Dame Grease began working with Outlaw Order members Outlaw Muszamil and Outlawed Misfit313. Outlawed Misfit313 later signed with Dame Grease's Vacant Lot Records. They released the album The Uprising on December 25, 2015.

Discography

Albums

• Live on Lenox (2000)
• What's Really Hood? (2003)
• Goon Musik (2008)
• Martial Law (2015)
• Diary of Wave God (with Massfivestar) (2016)
• Live On Lenox Remastered (2016)
• Invincible Armour (with Joe Young) (2017)

Mixtapes (selected)

• Goon Music 1.5 (The Doomship) (2008) with Max B
• Goon Music 2.OWWW (2009) with Max B and French Montana
• Tanya aka T6: The Introduction (with Tanya T6) (2009)
• Stash Box (2010)
• Wave Gang volumes 1–10 (2009–2013)
• Hologram Panda (with Riff Raff) (2012)

Singles/EP's (selected)

• "We'll Always Love Big Poppa" Puff Daddy, Faith Evans, 112, the Lox (Tribute To Notorious B.I.G.) (1997)
• "Love and Hate" and "Feel the Rush" Mic Vandalz and Dame Grease (1998)
• "For Real" Tricky with Dj Muggs and Dame Grease (1999)
• "Bom Bom Diggy/Hot Like a Sauna" Tricky with Dame Grease (1999)
• "God Love Us" Nas (Nastradamus) (1999)
• Live on Lenox (12", Promo, Smplr) (2000)
• "Ur Only a Customer" LL Cool J (Exit 13) (2008)
• "We Run NY" French Montana, Max B, Dame Grease (2009)
• "End of Time" Lumidee, Styles P (2010)
• "Dangerous" E-Moe, C Jenkz, Dame Grease (2017)
• "Guerrilla" Vita (rapper), CHG Unfadable (Lifestyle) (2017)

Scored soundtracks

• Turn It Up (New Line Home Entertainment 2000)
  • "Ja Rule, Pras, Robert Adetuyi"
• Exit Wounds (Warner Home Video 2001) – Producer
  • "Steven Segal, DMX, Andrzej Bartkowiak"
• Cradle 2 the Grave (Warner Home Video 2003) – Producer
  • "Jet Li, DMX, Andrzej Bartkowiak"
• Never Die Alone ( Fox Home Entertainment 2004)
  • "DMX, David Arquette, Ernest R. Dickerson"