“We performed at Club Skye,” Dame recounts. “Shout out to the DJs in Tampa. They showed amazing love when we were out there.”
“Yeah, Club Skye. We tore that down, boy,” Breed adds. “We had the whole team out there.”
Young Breed and Dame’s newfound partnership is an inspirational byproduct of the pandemic. When they first linked up last year, Young Breed was at a point in his life where he was more focused on his business ventures than on making music. After breaking out on the scene as a part of Rick Ross’ group Triple C’s in 2009, Breed branched out on his own, dropping street bangers and collaborative joints with his crew from Maybach Music Group, including Quise, Torch, Fat Rel, and Rick Ross himself. Breed consistently delivered projects like his 2018 collaborative album with Baby Soulja and Lil Dred, Young Soulja Dred, and his last solo release, Freestyle Chronicles 9, until the pandemic took a turn for the worse in 2020.
“At that time, I was just focusing on my business,” Breed tells New Times. “We opened a barbershop, the Block Barbershop, and we got the studio that's on top of the barbershop, the Block Studios. We just opened that to the public last year. During the pandemic, that's what we was really focusing on.”
Dame, meanwhile, has been on the grind since 2015. The 24-year-old made the move to Miami, where he connected with Breed during a studio session last year. With their first collaboration, “In My Ghetto,” they knew they were on to something major. Shortly before the end of last year, the newly formed duo dropped Wages of Sin. The 17-track project's lead single “Tap In,” has been getting plenty of attention from viral names like South Florida’s own Jason Derulo.
New Times tapped in with the duo to talk about their new album and their plans for a second installment. The pair also spoke about their studio session with Derulo and what got Breed hyped about music again.
What's the reception been for Wages of Sin?
Dame: Actually, it's really been going. It's been lit. I check out how it's going on my own, and we're doing pretty good. It's only been a month, though.
What was it like making the album?
Young Breed: This is how we be telling people. You gon get gumbo because that's that Louisiana, and then you gon get some conch salad — and that's that, Miami. The sessions is just full of energy. Dame like off the top. He ain't writing, ain't no pen, no pad, ain't nothing. He coming off the top. He's feeding me ideas, and we just brewing off each other. So the energy stay on 1,000.
D: And I feed off his energy. It's the same thing. It was just mutual and easy. I know it wasn't hard for him either.
YB: Second nature.
Do you remember how you both crossed paths?
D: The first time we linked in the studio, it was actually me, Breed, and another person I used to ride with, and we made a song together. When I heard him spit on the song, I was like, 'I gotta call Breed back' because I had made another song. I was like, 'Man, I want him to get on this other song.' Breed came through, and he slid like he supposed to. So I was like, 'Shit, that's who I'm supposed to make a mixtape with.' That's when we started putting that shit together.
When was that?
D: In 2020, all throughout the pandemic
Breed, it’s been a minute since you had dropped a full-length project. What convinced you to make a fresh joint album?
YB: When me and Dame really sat down, we went through some beats. Of course, it really came from the previous records we had did right around the time when we were talking about shooting videos. Then we came collectively. Capo and Kel, our management, came and brought the idea to the table. We told them that we were going to make it a bigger situation, and that's what really sparked the fire other than our studio energy. Just knowing that our team was ready to work during the pandemic that really turn it up.
What was the first track you both did that inspired you to keep going?
D: "In My Ghetto." We put it on Wages of Sin, but that was the first song we really linked on, just me and him. It was personal, but it grabbed everybody's attention enough to tell everybody we should do a whole tape together.
Both got great chemistry throughout the entire project, like Jadakiss and Styles P.
YB: That's the word I was looking for: chemistry. I can pick up where he left off, and he can pick up where I left off.
D: Because Florida is like Louisiana. We do the same shit.
YB: I just kept letting him know a lot — we grew up with a lot of their culture. A lot of their culture is what made Florida. We grew up on a lot of stuff that came from Louisiana. We've always liked their style. So you know, I feel like that played a dope part in us meshing too. We can relate to a lot of the same things.
D: Exactly. It feels like a second home.
Are you both planning to perform more in 2021?
YB: We're going city to city, state to state. With Wages of Sin, it's a whole project, so we're going HAM with it.
"Stand on That" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. Which songs do you guys love the most?
YB: "Stand On That" is also one of my favorites. "Ghetto Stories" is in my top three.
D: My favorite is "Wit Da Jwett" and "Ghetto Stories." I like them the most, but really the people's choice is "Tap In."
Speaking of "Tap In," you've got the video coming soon, right?
D: Yeah, we've got something nice for y'all for the video for "Tap In." I can't give too much away.
Are you planning a special remix for any of the songs?
YB: We definitely want a "Tap In" remix. That's coming. It's a few other records, man, because we're getting great response from that shit. A lot of people want to be apart of it, so it all depends. We're just going to line 'em up and see. We may want to do more fresh records. We just gonna see.
Given your amazing chemistry, do you both think that you'll make a follow-up project?
YB: Of course.
D: It's already recorded. And it's finished, and it's mixed already.
You teamed up with Jason Derulo for a TikTok video. How did you come up with that hilarious clip?
YB: That was a big situation. We did that in the middle of us recording Wages of Sin. So just Jason, being the artist he is, his platform, and just for him to share that with us. That TikTok is a whole other platform he's created for himself so for him to share that with us was a blessing.
D: It's really like he turned us into comedians. He wanted to turn a gangster scene into a comedic scene. Actually, he was just talking about being a perfectionist, but he taught me how to rob.
YB: [DeRulo] came into a couple of our recording sessions, but you know he definitely gave us some gems that we can definitely take with us and use forever. That, all in all, is a blessing.
How do you feel about the TikTok wave?
YB: That goes back to what I was saying. It excites me because it's new ways and different streams and forms of how you can get your music out there. We might not have heard a song, and somebody does a funny TikTok, and that person goes and shoots thru the roof. I'm all for it, shit, I'm with that.
D: Jason know how to get your record heard. If he danced to your song on TikTok, it's for sure going through the fucking roof.
