Interview: Brian “B.Dot” Miller

Figuratively speaking, Terius Nash has the stuff that dreams are made of. That’s because for nearly 10 years, the singer/songwriter/producer known as The-Dream has become a musical triple threat. And on the cusp of his sophomore release Love vs. Money, the Georgia native chopped it up with RapRadar about his new album, photographs, and how he and his main squeeze are laughing all the way to the bank.

A lot of folks have called your debut album, Love/Hate a classic.
Dream: I made two modern day classics.

Oh, really? So what’s the overall theme this time around?
Well, Love/Hate was the first album and it was just about where I was coming from. How I just got a certain type of recognition. And I knew there would be a certain kind of hate I was going to receive for being in that particular position because I seen it happen to others. This one, Love vs. Money is about what I got now. It’s about me and what I do it for. It’s a question I ask myself and a question I pose to everybody else. Do you do it for the love? Do you do relationships for the love? Is it about the money I have? When I do my job—writing songs, is it about love or is that about money? So that’s what it is. It’s exactly what the title says.

But in these trying times, shouldn’t people do things with money in mind?
Not really. I think love always brings us through. No matter how much money you got. You haven’t loved somebody in a time like this in order to receive stuff. It’s not just going to come to you based off “Ah I got money.” You can lose money you can never really lose love if you got it.

Speaking of which, you lost a lot of weight. How’d you do it?
I only loss about 20 pounds. Just keep having sex three hours at a time.

Uh, duly noted. Recently, your girlfriend Christina Milian has caught a lot of heat over the pictures she took at the Atlanta Hawks game.
Oh yeah, they hate her. [But] I love it. Cause evidently, we controlling the airwaves right now. People that can’t hate on me are going to hate on her.

You think that’s what it is?
I don’t get it! Me and her had this conversation, “Like what the hell are they looking at? Like, maybe it’s something wrong with they computer screen and maybe Rasputia comes up every time they looking at you,” cause I don’t know, I have no idea. Like, I think something is wrong. When we go out the country they go crazy [for her]. I get back here, I read a blog— it makes no sense.

It seems much of criticism comes from the blonde dye job.

That shit look good to me. She is an artist. She changed her hair color cause she wanted to change it, read more about it here. I aint have shit to do with it. Why I look like walking around making someone change their hair color. Like y’all aint got nothing to do.

Did you feel some sort of way about Johntá Austin, Jermaine Dupri, and Usher were clowning her?
Hmm mmm, of course I did. I called all of them. First person I called was Johntá Austin.

What did he say?
He ain’t know she was over here with Radio Killa like that, but I’m like in any event why are y’all, Grammy winning, critically-acclaimed songwriters, gentleman— It doesn’t make any sense to do that. I didn’t get it. I really didn’t get it. That’s like me doing that. Maybe I just have an ego that’s going to make me come down off my horse to talk about you. It’s not going to happen. Even in the cross of saying anything back, everybody calling “Hey man, what you going to—” Man, I ain’t saying nothing. I’m me. I’ll say everything I want to say on the left side of Billboard charts.

On the boards with your name next to triangle?
A triangle, a rectangle, whatever it is. Nobody ain’t got time for that. Most of my concern with Johntá is; first off, I know you were just goofing off and that you don’t believe that ’cause if you seen her you would try to holla at her.

I know I would.
So, I know it ain’t that. So what is it? Cause other than that you messing with my money. Now when you playing with my money, [you] talking a whole ‘nother ball game.

Right.
And to clear this up, “Oh, she fuckin’ for tracks” and this shit, I be like these muthafuckas must be stupid. It’s a recession ain’t nobody got to fuck for tracks. We basically giving them away. There’s a clearance! When I started to really want to build my label, I went looking for her. I was like, where is she at? I need that person over here. She’s talented and she’s a good person. I met a lot of people. That’s what I told Johntá. We know a lot of people that ain’t good people. You don’t do that to good people.

Did you speak to Usher?
He called me and told me he was sorry and or whatever. But she on Radio Killa. She feel a certain way about it, then I’m good on you. We can’t even work.

Did you ever think twice about hooking up with Christina Milian being that she’s been with Nick Cannon and producer Dre?
I only know people when I see ‘em. And from that day forward is what I know about them.

So it never crossed your mind?
I’m a tell you something crazy. How much I work and how real I am, ’cause the game is so fickle. I was getting ready to do something recently on some business stuff and I was like “You want to come by this particular thing” It was something in Utah. It was Sundance. I was like, “You want to come up here? Mariah is having this party,” I told this to Christina. She was like “Uh, no!” I’m so out the loop on that shit, man, I really don’t give a fuck! Like that shit— I really don’t give a fuck about that shit.

So, it’s all business at the end of the day.
We out here trying to get this money. Let them keep taking pictures. How about that? While you taking pictures, wondering what we doing in between them pictures, we just going to get that money.