(AllHipHop News) Dame Dash may have lost Roc-a-Fella Records but the same domineering personality remains.
In a recent interview with Details Magazine, the boisterous 42 year old entrepreneur talks in detail about the infamous Roc-A-Fella Records split, why record label employees are “slaves” and a lot more.
Apparently, Dash and Jay had dinner at the restaurant Da Silvano in New York City in December of 2004 where Jay announced he would be assuming presidency of Def Jam. Due to Dame’s much publicized temper, Jay felt the best business decision was to distance himself from Dash, however offered to give Dash the Roc-A-Fella name if Dash turned over the rights to Reasonable Doubt. Dash refused because Jay Z’s “just business” approach went against the original plan for Roc-A-Fella:
Honestly, I didn’t give a f*ck. The whole thing was based on our friendship. He made it clear he didn’t want me to be a part of Roc-A-Fella. I was like, ‘A’ight.’ Everything else was like, ‘Go be you. You want to do this, do it.’ He told me it was just business. He said that it was business. ‘I want to look like a businessman, and I can’t be a businessman around you.
In the article, Dash is quoted to have said that record label employees, specifying Def Jam are “slaves” whom “put their balls on a silver platter” in exchange for a proverbial “three meals a day, a warm bed.”
Ironically, Def Jam co-founder Simmons describes Dash as a “visionary” in the article and attributes the careers of three of the most popular rappers of the last 15 years to Dash’s magnanimous work ethic:
Without Damon, there would have been no Jay-Z or Kanye or Cam’ron and no Roc-A-Fella. What he did for Jay and everyone, he was selfless. He took the bullets.
Check out the full interview here