Dame Dash’s disputes with his Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders are nowhere near resolved, as disagreements over ownership of the legendary label continue to persist.
During an interview on The GAUDS Show that premiered last week, the 52-year-old mogul talked about regaining control of the Hip Hop empire he helped build. He also discussed being ousted from it by the same people he kickstarted it with, namely JAY-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke.
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“I’m taking back Roc-A-Fella; I don’t need no paperwork,” he said. “Roc-A-Fella never dies. It’s not dead; I just fuckin’ took a vacation. I’m the CEO of Roc-A-Fella Inc. and JAY-Z knows it, and so does Biggs. Not Roc-A-Fella LLC — we sold that; Roc-A-Fella Inc. — I’m still the CEO.”
Last year, Dash was sued by his former business partners over an alleged NFT auction of Hov’s 1996 debut, Reasonable Doubt. Just months later, they reached a settlement that took away his legal right to sell his portion of the record as any token.
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“They took me to court saying I tried to sell all their interests, knowing I didn’t,” he explained. “I was only trying to sell mine, but they did that to fuck my sale up […] We don’t go to court. You call me, and then you wanna lie on me? That was last year. I’m bothered about it.”
Just a few months back, Dash said he’s ready to have a sit-down with JAY-Z to discuss their falling out, but not before his conditions are met. During a mid-October interview on The CEO Show, he talked about his former Roc-A-Fella partner and said that he’d be willing to “have a conversation” to hash out their differences.
He did, however, make it clear that he would only be open to it if the rap superstar agrees to “talk about the people that didn’t make the money, and try to help.” Those people, while not named explicitly, are most likely former Roc-A-Fella artists, given the context of the conversation.
Dame Dash, Kareem “Biggs” Burke and JAY-Z launched Roc-A-Fella Records in 1994, but the parntership infamously split up in 2004 when The Island Def Jam Music Group purchased the label. While Dame took credit for helping put Hov on, the rap legend didn’t agree with those sentiments and addressed the idea on Kingdom Come’s “Lost One.”
“I heard muthafuckas sayin’ they made Hov/ Made Hov say, ‘Okay, so? Make another Hov!’/ N-ggas wasn’t playin’ they day role/ So we parted ways like Ben and J-Lo/ I shoulda been did it but I been in a daze though/ I put friends over business end of the day though,” he raps on the 2006 track.
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Their relationship has gone through several ups and downs since, and even though both have expressed a mutual admiration for each other’s work, tension remains between them.
