Dame Grease

Damon Blackman, professionally known as Dame Grease, is an American record producer from Harlem, New York City.^[1]

Music career

1996-2006:Career beginnings and Vacant Lot

Before becoming a staple on nearly every mixtape, East Coast hip hop group The LOX, relied on the sounds of Grease in order to acquire the street buzz that landed them their deal on Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records in 1996. Fellow Bad Boy artist Mase, sought out Grease’s distinctive sound and gave him the opportunity to provide production on his quadruple platinum album Harlem World (1997). This led to Grease’s work as the primary producer on DMX's debut It's Dark and Hell Is Hot (1998), where Grease helped Ruff Ryders Entertainment mold both their image and sound into what would become one of the most well-known hip hop crews. During this time, Grease taught and paved the way for Bronx-bred disc jockey Swizz Beatz, who soon became another sample-free producer, to make his mark on the game.

As Swizz Beatz began to make his mark through the teaching of his mentor, Dame Grease landed a deal with Priority Records to release music through his own label, Vacant Lot. Rather than accept offers to be one of Puff Daddy's legendary Hitmen or an in-house producer on Ruff Ryders, Grease chose to create his own production company, Vacant Lot. In 2001, Dame Grease made the accession from producer to composer by providing the score for the Steven Seagal/DMX blockbuster Exit Wounds. In addition to his work on the film, Dame Grease also reunited with DMX on the soundtrack for X's top-ten hit "Ain't No Sunshine", an updated, yet much darker remake to the Bill Withers 1972 classic of the same name. Grease continued his work as a composer in on the 2003 box-office hit Cradle 2 the Grave, starring Jet Li, DMX, Gabrielle Union, and Anthony Anderson, as well as 2004's Never Die Alone.

Grease may have been focused on scoring films, but he also made time in his schedule to put in work on several music projects throughout 2004 and 2005, including albums from LL Cool J, Kelis, DJ Kay Slay, DJ Envy, Slick Rick, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and an artist on Dr. Dre's Aftermath label named Aimee Terrin. Grease also kept the underground bubbling with "Crown Me", a collaboration between T.I., Cam’ron, and Juelz Santana. In 2006, Dame Grease produced to "Life Be My Song", a track on DMX’s sixth studio album Year of the Dog... Again.

2007-present: Resurgence

The world has seen a resurgence of Grease’s sound in 2007, with the Harlem producer securing DJ Drama’s lead-off “Takin’ Pictures” (featuring Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Jim Jones, T.I., and Young Buck) and Freeway’s single “Big Spender” (featuring Jay-Z). Grease also produced several tracks on Hell Rell’s debut album “For The Hell Of It,” which has been described by many as one of the most well-rounded releases by a Dipset artist. Grease has also been hard at work on his own album and recently released the single “Sour Diesel,” which features N.O.R.E. and Styles P. With several more projects lined up that will last well into 2008, Dame Grease looks to continue to lace Hip Hop with the same quality production that he has for the past decade and a half.

In the year 2009, Dame Grease produced the track "Lambo Dreams" for Curren$y which will be included on Curren$y's This Aint No Mixtape: Championship Edition.

In a recent 2010 radio interview, Dame discussed his forthcoming projects with The Lox, DMX and his new Max B project, pairing Max with unreleased verses from Notorious B.I.G. and 2 Pac.^[2]

Since 2010, Dame Grease has been producing a majority of French Montana's music. Grease teamed up with Magix Music Maker in 2010, to release the Greasealizer (MAGIX Music Maker Greasealizer Version). The product was released March 15, 2010.^[3]

Discography

Albums

• Live on Lenox (2000)^[4][5][6]

Mixtapes

• Goon Music 1.5 (The Doomship) (with Max B) (2008)^[7]
• Goon Music 2.OWWW (2009)^[8]
• Dame Grease & JUiCY RNB Presents Tanya aka T6: "The Introduction (with Tanya T6) (2009)^[9]
• Strip Club Music (2010)^[10]
• Wave Gang 4 (2010)^[11]
• Hologram Panda (with Riff Raff) (2012)^[12]

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"

References

External links

• Dame Grease at AllMusic
• Damon "Grease" Blackman discography at Discogs