What new artists pique your interests?

[Verdine White]: We’ve been talking about Janelle Monae - love Janelle Monae!

[Ralph Johnson]: We were talking about the Grammys, talking about new artists and of course Janelle came up. But then, Esperanza Spalding won a Grammy for Best New Artist.

AllHipHop.com: Now you’re part of Diddy-Dirty Money with Kalenna Harper and Sean Combs. Does Diddy dominate his artists and their music like people say?

Dawn: Well you know, I don’t think he ever had any women in a group with him. I can’t think of anyone at the label who had that opportunity, so it’s an interesting dynamic to see both sides of it – as his artist and being in his group. He is a man who has that reputation, but I think that anyone who owns a label and is an artist can tend to have that reputation.

The reality is they have to make sure that they’re pushing their product, because it’s their product. But I think what Puff did this time – I think he even surprised himself with this – he got two women who are extremely opinionated and really have a strong passion in what they do. So it’s kind of an interesting group because he has to humble himself sometimes, and he doesn’t like it. [laughter] But when it comes to passion and the things that we say, when we have a good opinion, he respects it, and he’s like, ‘damn, I had to humble myself.’ He hates to say that! [laughter]

But I think he’s starting to appreciate the fact that he is good at finding talent, and he has to believe in the talent that he picks. So Kalenna and I sort of force the hand at making him appreciate a powerful woman, which is hard for him. I think when he had his girls, it changed his whole perspective anyway. I’m the type of person where I ‘m not gonna bow down, you know? I make sure I give him my opinions respectfully, and I understand that it’s his project and his label. He understands that this is what I love to do, and that I’m an asset to this thing. I think that’s why Dirty Money has been successful so far.