0:00:01.167,0:00:02.434
I got it.

0:00:02.458,0:00:04.434
So are you guys going to mute when I talk

0:00:04.458,0:00:06.059
so nothing interrupts it?

0:00:06.083,0:00:07.351
(Audio) Yes.

0:00:07.375,0:00:10.434
Because once I'm in the flow,[br]I like to stay in the flow.

0:00:10.458,0:00:12.809
Having some type of support

0:00:12.833,0:00:15.184
is very necessary when you are creative.

0:00:15.208,0:00:19.851
You know, there has to be something[br]that's fueling that creativity,

0:00:19.875,0:00:22.309
that's fueling that fire[br]that you have inside.

0:00:22.333,0:00:26.434
My love for music and creativity[br]starts way back, way back.

0:00:26.458,0:00:29.059
Back in the South Bronx where I grew up,

0:00:29.083,0:00:31.768
building 700, apartment 2E.

0:00:31.792,0:00:35.184
I would go outside[br]and all I would hear is music.

0:00:35.208,0:00:38.143
You go around to the back park,[br]the DJs are playing,

0:00:38.167,0:00:39.851
there's a basketball game going on,

0:00:39.875,0:00:42.143
but then you would look[br]at the handball court,

0:00:42.167,0:00:45.309
and that handball court[br]would have an amazing graffiti mural,

0:00:45.333,0:00:48.726
I don't know if it's from[br]Keith Haring or Fab 5 Freddy.

0:00:48.750,0:00:51.601
I was instantly attracted to the creative.

0:00:51.625,0:00:54.976
Music has been my therapy since day one.

0:00:55.000,0:00:57.226
Anytime I get stressed out,

0:00:57.250,0:01:00.143
I go to the arts,[br]I go to creativity, I go to music.

0:01:00.167,0:01:04.726
Music makes people feel hugged,[br]people feel loved.

0:01:04.750,0:01:07.101
And then I remember[br]one of my uncles saying,

0:01:07.125,0:01:10.059
"You should get into producing,"[br]I'm like, "What's producing?"

0:01:10.083,0:01:12.351
You know, it started[br]as a family-owned business,

0:01:12.375,0:01:14.518
because Ruff Ryders[br]was created by my family.

0:01:14.542,0:01:16.309
It gave you DMX, it gave you Eve,

0:01:16.333,0:01:18.851
it gave you Drag-On, it gave you The LOX.

0:01:18.875,0:01:22.518
I've gotten every accolade[br]in music that one can get.

0:01:22.542,0:01:25.726
It just came to the point[br]where I was like, "You know what?

0:01:25.750,0:01:30.309
I'm no longer going to have fun with this[br]unless I'm able to give back."

0:01:30.333,0:01:34.934
You know, The Dean Collection started[br]for me to create a museum for my family

0:01:34.958,0:01:36.268
and our name.

0:01:36.292,0:01:38.893
Something that my kids[br]would have to be responsible

0:01:38.917,0:01:40.684
to pass through generations.

0:01:40.708,0:01:41.976
I said, "Wait a minute,

0:01:42.000,0:01:44.643
The Dean Collection is not just[br]for The Dean Collection,

0:01:44.667,0:01:46.476
The Dean Collection is for everyone."

0:01:46.500,0:01:48.976
There are some galleries now[br]and places you walk in,

0:01:49.000,0:01:52.268
if you don't have 50,000,[br]there's nothing to talk about.

0:01:52.292,0:01:56.184
And I felt that a lot of people[br]were using that as an excuse

0:01:56.208,0:01:57.476
to exit art.

0:01:57.500,0:02:00.059
They feel that art[br]is only for rich people.

0:02:00.083,0:02:01.351
Whoa.

0:02:01.375,0:02:03.559
We've got to stop this,[br]we've got to fix this.

0:02:03.583,0:02:05.809
And that's what made me and my wife say,

0:02:05.833,0:02:09.309
you know, we have to create an entry point[br]to the younger generation

0:02:09.333,0:02:11.184
that didn't understand the art world,

0:02:11.208,0:02:12.934
didn't have their seat at the table,

0:02:12.958,0:02:15.184
and then we started "No Commissions."

0:02:15.208,0:02:16.476
It's a big event,

0:02:16.500,0:02:19.476
you got 30-something-thousand[br]RSVPs a night.

0:02:19.500,0:02:21.434
The drinks are free, the food is free,

0:02:21.458,0:02:22.917
the concert's free.

0:02:23.750,0:02:25.143
The education is free,

0:02:25.167,0:02:28.059
and I feel that education should be free.

0:02:28.083,0:02:31.434
We went to Shanghai, we went to London,

0:02:31.458,0:02:33.018
we went to Berlin,

0:02:33.042,0:02:36.226
we did it right in my backyard[br]if the South Bronx.

0:02:36.250,0:02:37.934
You can come in to "No Commissions"

0:02:37.958,0:02:40.893
and get something for a couple of bucks,

0:02:40.917,0:02:42.976
or a couple hundred thousand.

0:02:43.000,0:02:46.684
There's a tier for every person[br]that has love for art.

0:02:46.708,0:02:49.893
And what we're doing is something[br]totally different from a gallery.

0:02:49.917,0:02:53.059
The artists keep 100 percent of the sales.

0:02:53.083,0:02:54.934
But what about after "No Commissions,"

0:02:54.958,0:02:58.726
how can you sustain,[br]how can you move forward

0:02:58.750,0:03:01.018
without having to be trapped[br]to sell your soul?

0:03:01.042,0:03:04.893
I was a part of the sale with my brother[br]Sean Diddy Combs,

0:03:04.917,0:03:06.559
the 21-million-dollar purchase,

0:03:06.583,0:03:08.559
which made Kerry James Marshall

0:03:08.583,0:03:13.351
the highest-selling African American[br]living artist to today.

0:03:13.375,0:03:15.393
I'm like, "Man,[br]you just broke the record,"

0:03:15.417,0:03:16.726
and the artist was like,

0:03:16.750,0:03:19.351
"Yeah, I don't know whether[br]to be happy or to be sad."

0:03:19.375,0:03:23.101
[When] He first sold that work,[br]it was under 100,000.

0:03:23.125,0:03:27.226
So imagine a work that you made[br]for under 100,000

0:03:27.250,0:03:30.351
is now being sold for 21 million,

0:03:30.375,0:03:33.809
and you had to sit home and watch this.

0:03:33.833,0:03:36.768
And you couldn't even[br]participate five percent.

0:03:36.792,0:03:38.143
When you look at it,

0:03:38.167,0:03:41.059
I'm a producer, I'm a songwriter,

0:03:41.083,0:03:43.226
every time it's played on the radio,

0:03:43.250,0:03:44.684
I get paid.

0:03:44.708,0:03:47.726
Every time it's played in a movie,

0:03:47.750,0:03:49.018
I get paid.

0:03:49.042,0:03:53.684
Every time it plays, period,

0:03:53.708,0:03:54.976
I get paid.

0:03:55.000,0:03:58.143
Visual artists, they only get paid once.

0:03:58.167,0:04:02.476
How, when paintings are sold[br]and traded multiple times?

0:04:02.500,0:04:04.893
And that's that artist's lifetime work,

0:04:04.917,0:04:07.309
that other people are making 10, 15,

0:04:07.333,0:04:11.976
sometimes 100 times more[br]than the artist that created it.

0:04:12.000,0:04:15.684
So I created something[br]called the Dean's Choice,

0:04:15.708,0:04:18.934
where if you're a seller,

0:04:18.958,0:04:20.559
or a collector,

0:04:20.583,0:04:23.768
and you bring in your work[br]into, let's say, Sotheby's,

0:04:23.792,0:04:26.684
there's a paper that's there[br]that says, "Hey, guys, you know,

0:04:26.708,0:04:28.684
this artist is still living.

0:04:28.708,0:04:32.351
You've made 300 percent on your investment

0:04:32.375,0:04:34.726
by working with this artist.

0:04:34.750,0:04:38.101
You can choose to give the artist[br]whatever you want of the sale."

0:04:38.125,0:04:40.684
I think that even if five people did it,

0:04:40.708,0:04:43.018
it would start to change[br]everything in the arts.

0:04:43.042,0:04:44.976
And this is happening in Europe already.

0:04:45.000,0:04:46.893
It happens in the music industry,

0:04:46.917,0:04:48.226
it's called publishing.

0:04:48.250,0:04:50.143
And artists are able to survive,

0:04:50.167,0:04:52.351
musicians are able to survive,

0:04:52.375,0:04:53.643
years after years,

0:04:53.667,0:04:56.268
off of the residual income[br]of their publishing.

0:04:56.292,0:05:02.059
So how can we take something[br]that brings creatives together,

0:05:02.083,0:05:03.518
and celebrate each other?

0:05:03.542,0:05:06.018
Myself and Timbaland[br]have been working on this idea

0:05:06.042,0:05:10.059
called Verzuz for about three years now.

0:05:10.083,0:05:11.434
Then this trying time came,

0:05:11.458,0:05:13.934
and everybody started[br]going to social media

0:05:13.958,0:05:15.268
to express themselves.

0:05:15.292,0:05:20.768
So what we did was I played my top songs,

0:05:20.792,0:05:23.268
he played his top songs,

0:05:23.292,0:05:25.018
and we went on Instagram Live.

0:05:25.042,0:05:26.684
(Video) (Laughter)

0:05:26.708,0:05:27.976
Timbaland: You having fun?

0:05:28.000,0:05:30.101
This is so good for the culture, let's go.

0:05:30.125,0:05:31.893
A lot of people like to say "battle,"

0:05:31.917,0:05:33.893
we pulled back off of that word "battle,"

0:05:33.917,0:05:36.226
because we're battling enough[br]in the world today.

0:05:36.250,0:05:37.976
We call it educational celebration.

0:05:38.000,0:05:40.393
I think we're on our ninth or tenth one.

0:05:40.417,0:05:43.500
Me and Timbaland started out[br]with 20,000 people.

0:05:44.333,0:05:51.226
As of yesterday,[br]750,000 people in one room.

0:05:51.250,0:05:54.708
So, we have this thing[br]called the "Verzuz Effect."

0:05:55.792,0:05:58.893
And the "Verzuz Effect"[br]is what happens to the artist

0:05:58.917,0:06:02.601
after they contribute to Verzuz.

0:06:02.625,0:06:05.268
We can go to the Baby Face[br]and Teddy Riley.

0:06:05.292,0:06:07.625
They both went up millions of views.

0:06:08.833,0:06:11.851
Both of their songs re-entered the charts.

0:06:11.875,0:06:15.934
And then we look[br]at the first ladies Verzuz,

0:06:15.958,0:06:18.184
and both Erykah Badu and Jill Scott

0:06:18.208,0:06:22.684
have seven positions in the top 20 charts.

0:06:22.708,0:06:24.226
This is the Verzuz Effect.

0:06:24.250,0:06:28.018
You know, billions and billions[br]and billions of impressions.

0:06:28.042,0:06:30.143
This is something I've never seen before.

0:06:30.167,0:06:34.934
And I felt that these artists[br]are getting their flowers today,

0:06:34.958,0:06:37.684
which is a great thing,[br]while they can smell them.

0:06:37.708,0:06:38.976
This was personal for me,

0:06:39.000,0:06:41.851
because many a times[br]I've been counted out,

0:06:41.875,0:06:44.143
I've been hot and cold 100 times.

0:06:44.167,0:06:48.393
You still have to understand[br]the business as an artist,

0:06:48.417,0:06:52.851
to elevate to your level[br]that you deserve to be.

0:06:52.875,0:06:56.434
Because most creatives,[br]we're very emotional,

0:06:56.458,0:07:00.851
we're very "let somebody else handle that,[br]I want to stick to this."

0:07:00.875,0:07:04.559
But not only creativity is key,[br]education is key,

0:07:04.583,0:07:06.684
which is the reason[br]why I went back to school

0:07:06.708,0:07:10.143
to sharpen my pencil in my mid-30s.

0:07:10.167,0:07:12.059
We have to know our business.

0:07:12.083,0:07:16.101
But it's going to take us[br]digging in a little deeper,

0:07:16.125,0:07:19.143
and pulling out the knowledge[br]that we need to prepare ourselves

0:07:19.167,0:07:22.309
for this world that's waiting[br]to take advantage of the creatives.

0:07:22.333,0:07:23.857
Then we can make better choices,

0:07:23.881,0:07:27.768
then we can end that conversation[br]of artists dying poor.

0:07:27.792,0:07:29.364
If we're not protecting the arts,

0:07:29.388,0:07:31.184
we're not protecting our future,

0:07:31.208,0:07:33.268
we're not protecting this world.

0:07:33.292,0:07:34.875
Creativity heals us.

0:07:36.625,0:07:39.476
What's these shades closing for?

0:07:39.500,0:07:41.059
Time out.

0:07:41.083,0:07:42.333
(Scoffs)

0:07:43.167,0:07:45.018
(Voice) I kind of like that.

0:07:45.042,0:07:46.292
SB: (Laughs)