Dame Dash almost went from CEO to rapper on his own label back in the early 2000s, as Roc-A-Fella was apparently on shaky ground before the success of “Big Pimpin.”
Appearing on the Moguls in the Making podcast in an episode published on Monday (May 27), Dame discussed the legendary JAY-Z and UGK song that was released as a single in 2000 (though the album that contains it came out at the tail end of the prior year).
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In addition to claiming that the song was actually about his own lifestyle and not Hov’s, the former Roc-A-Fella exec said that at the time the song was being made, the label was in trouble and he nearly had to get on the mic himself.
“In that moment, Roc-A-Fella was in trouble and if that ‘Big Pimpin” didn’t work, I was gon’ start rapping. [I don’t got bars, but] I would have just did it for the company.”
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The full conversation begins around the 1:11:26 mark below.
In that same interview, Dame Dash also reflected on the legendary early-aughts beef between JAY-Z and Nas, saying that he had “no fear” of anybody getting hurt despite the bitter rivalry between the two rappers.
“There was no fear of us getting hurt when it came to Nas. I’m telling you right now, there was no fear of any violence when it came to that,” he insisted. “There was no fear when it came to us of any battle that we had when it came to violence. We were never worried about that.”
He added: “Now, ‘Pac and Biggie, n-ggas got killed. But n-ggas get killed in Hip Hop now. They be battling and then they end up dead. It’s a little more serious now.”
Dame Dash previously claimed that Nas won the feud after the release of “Supa Ugly” backfired on JAY-Z.
“Jay’s response was terrible,” he said on the That’s F***ed Up Podcast last year. “The thing is, we had first hit him with the joint at Summer Jam that was kinda hard, the ‘Takeover.’ But when [Nas] came with the ‘Ether,’ I was kinda hype because he said my name. I was like, ‘I guess I’m in a rap record.’
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“But the response, I wasn’t there for the response. I had landed, Irv Gotti fucked that one up. Every time Irv Gotti got in my business, he fucked shit up … He threw that ‘Ether’ on him. He had him apologizing. The rap that he did was wack — when I heard it, I was pissed.”
