Waah Dean Revisits Heavy D’s Advice and the Work Behind Ruff Ryders
Joaquin “Waah” Dean is revisiting the work that came before Ruff Ryders became a household name. In a new AllHipHop interview published October 12th, the label co-founder tells Chuck Creekmur how mentorship, belief in an artist and repeated trips beyond a hometown audience helped shape the movement.
Dean credits Heavy D with advice that pushed him toward action: find an artist worth believing in and build records strong enough to attract attention. In his account, a cassette featuring DMX arrived during that conversation. The story puts the emphasis on development and follow-through, rather than waiting for someone else to open a door.
He also recalls taking DMX to different cities for battles and performances, including an opening appearance for Das EFX at Philadelphia’s Penn Relays. Those efforts, Dean says, were designed to introduce the rapper to listeners beyond Westchester. His recollection presents artist development as sustained personal support alongside the work of finding stages.
A 2016 FADER oral history supplies useful background to that breakthrough. Interviewed about Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood, Darrin “Dee” Dean described roughly a decade of work before the group’s mainstream arrival. Waah remembered a compressed recording schedule and the slow, demanding process of mixing on tape.
That account includes several voices from the sessions, including DMX, Swizz Beatz and Dame Grease. Together, their memories show how the pressure of delivering another album in 1998 depended on a larger network of producers, studios and people keeping the project moving. The retrospective is historical context, separate from today’s newly published conversation.
Watch the full AllHipHop interview above for Dean’s account in his own voice. Readers interested in the people behind the records can also revisit PowerPage’s Young Guru conversation coverage, which examines creative judgment and the role of studio tools.
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