Bishop Lamont knows Drama. But that’s a good thing when it’s Drama from Rob Dyrdek’s hit MTV show “Fantasy Factory.” “Drama did it — he’s a mega-producer who doesn’t get enough credit for his talent,” Bishop says as he listens to “Gone,” a new song featuring John Mayer that he cut on a recent stop by the Fantasy Factory.
“E. Sanchez hooked it up and I just ran with it. I did it for the music, I just felt it, related to it and identified with what John was singing about. And, straight-up, John may have got controversial in a magazine interview but the dude’s no racist … he was just bein’ crazy, damn, take a joke.”
Lamont stars in, and is a producer of, the upcoming feature “Fahrenheit 513” with Damion Whitaker, Bokeem Woodbine, Christian Audigier and Tom Sizemore, and he also did a track for a documentary on the Angola 3 that Samuel L. Jackson recently narrated, entitled “Land of the Free.”
“It’s a travesty that is a very, very deep cause for me,” Lamont says about the case of three innocent men, Herman Wallace, Albert Woodfox and Robert King, held in solitary confinement for more than three decades for trying to speak out against inhumane treatment and racial segregation. Lamont has befriended King, who was released in 2001, while Wallace and Woodfox remain in solitary.
“It pained me that all I was able to contribute personally was a song — I want to do a whole lot more than that. I recently met with (fellow activist and entertainer) Harry Belefonte and we have a lot of work to do together. My business manager, Damizza, had been trying to introduce me to Dave Stewart (of Eurhythmics fame), who is composing the score for both films I’m involved with. Dave introduced me to his artist Nadirah X. She’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. She just blew me away; her music — her soul — pours through the speakers. I just heard her in my head on the John Mayor song. She felt it too — felt what I was saying in the song with my verses. I asked her to get on it and before we know it Dave’s stringin’ up his guitar … it’s incredible. He played an outta-this-world solo using his diamond ring as a slide. I’d never seen, or heard, anything like it. Some people see the future of music as bleak — but not me … I see soul & new suits … with Dioscese ties!
“Oh, and for y’all thinkin’ I’m gonna say “Fu*k Dre” and diss him or Aftermath like every other artist that’s no longer there, you got me all wrong. Dre signed me after hearing a demo I ambushed him with at a video shoot and not only did he not blow me off, he was true to his word … he listened to it. The next morning he was droppin’ my name on radio and became my biggest supporter. I sincerely appriecate his mentorship. He took the time and put a hell of a lot of effort into my artistry, when most people in his position don’t do that.
“Now I’m guiding my own way and that’s what I’ve been training for all these years — and I can’t wait to start sharing my message and vision with the world.”
