Dope frontman Edsel Dope has gone public with a surprisingly respectful but firm plea directed at Public Enemy’s Chuck D and The Doors’ John Densmore, following the announcement of their new collaborative project named doPE.
The hip-hop and rock crossover outfit was revealed earlier this week alongside news of a debut album titled ‘No Country for Old Men’ (via Loudwire).
While the pairing of Chuck D and Densmore raised eyebrows for all the right reasons, the band name immediately rang alarm bells for Edsel Dope, who has fronted industrial metal outfit Dope for over 25 years.
Taking to social media on Monday (January 26th), Edsel laid out his position in a lengthy statement, stressing admiration first, then legality.
He described himself as “the little guy” in comparison to the two legends, but made it clear that the name is not up for grabs.
“Those 4 letters ‘dope’ have been tattooed on my knuckles since 1998,” he wrote, adding, “I appropriately registered the artist name dope and I have owned the Trademark, ever since I hit the scene, more than 25 years ago…”
Edsel pointed to the potential for serious confusion across streaming platforms, noting that Dope currently pull more than a million monthly listeners and hundreds of millions of combined streams:
“The paperwork is up to date and my rights regarding the name are indisputable,” he said plainly.
Rather than escalating, Edsel proposed collaboration instead of conflict. “So if YOU TWO LEGENDS are committed to using MY FOUR LETTERS, Please hit me up directly, as I would love to be part of some form of collaborative effort with you.”
He closed on a personal note, reinforcing the sincerity of his message: “I know every word from Apocalypse 91 & I have smoked more weed listening to The Doors than one could ever imagine.”
Over 10 years in the making
According to John Densmore, the collaboration with Chuck D has been brewing for over a decade, the pair first met on a Record Store Day panel in 2014, before Chuck later emailing Densmore with the line, “You’ve got the beats, I’ve got the rhymes, let’s make doPE.”
The album ‘No Country for Old Men’ is set for release as a Record Store Day exclusive on April 18th, whether the name survives intact remains to be seen.
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