Damon Dash’s Former Attorney Says, “Without Dame, There Would Be No Jay-Z”
Boom! Clark’s baby cousin Inga Marchand, p/k/a “Foxy Brown” made some noise and started a bidding war between Def Jam, Bad Boy, Elektra and a bunch of other labels. On the strength, they snatched her yung ass up for what would end up being the monster single “Ain’t No Nigga”. Damon played that single for me in his new offices, then located in the Wall Street area. Nigga was doing that goofy “Dame dance” with the mock dice roll even then. That record was a monster!!! Inga single handedly, in my opinion, saved Jay-Z’s career. Without her on that record, and Reasonable Doubt being Jay’s last shot, the world at large might have never heard of Shawn Carter. (Niggas don’t really put 2 and 2 together, realizing that Jay had been trying to get on since like 1987, ‘88, damn near close to 10 years before Reasonable Doubt!!!)
Reasonable Doubt dropped and sold gold out the gate. 500,000 units. Priority never expected that. Owed Dame $1,000,000.00 but couldn’t, wouldn’t pay up. Enter Irv Gotti, who snatched up the “Ain’t No Nigga” single for the “Nutty Professor” soundtrack. That led to Roc-a-fella eventually landing at Def Jam. The rest, as they say, is history. Let me set the record straight, here, and once and for all. Without Dame, there would be no Jay-Z. I know it. I said it. And I said it here.
Damon Dash’s former attorney talks about the early days of Roc A Fella records, an interesting read. I think its outlandish to say Hov would of never blew up without Damon Dash. Jay-Z will say well make another Hov, which I think he is trying to do with Jim Jones.
Tags: Damon Dash, Jay-Z
Suggestion Box
March 27th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
First…..stop feeling sorry for Dame…. he broke, get over it……. shouldn’t have been a asshole, shouldnt have tried to have Cam take over the Roc…. shouldnt have thought he was bigger then his biggest artist and he shouldnt have been smelling his self to much
March 27th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
“then make another HOV”
March 27th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
operation: ’save face’ is a go.
dame’s desperate, and pathetic, and BROKE. if dirty-bath-water jones is his ‘new hov’.. he’s in even more trouble than i thought.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
SHYT
March 27th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
head
March 27th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOWS THAT. INCLUDING JAY-Z.
IT PROB WOUND UP BEING ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS WHERE THEY BOTH STARTING GETTING MONEY, AFTER THE DEF JAM DEAL, THEN TOWARDS THE BREAK-UP. DAME WAS LIKE STILL IN THE SAME LANE, LIKE THIS IS WHERE I’MMA STAY, FU&K IT, WHATEVER! YA KNOW, AND JAY-Z STILL HAD THAT DRIVE, LIKE I WANNA BE DEF JAM PRESIDENT & MAKE THESE MAJOR MOVES SO I CAN SECURE MY FUTURE. AND MAKE THE MOST OF THIS OPPORTUNITY. LIKE THEY HAD THE SAME SITUATION, JUST WANTED A DIFFERENT FUTURE. THEN AGAIN, I DON’T KNOW.
IT’S WEIRD THAT HE BROKE, CAUSE IT SEEM LIKE DAMN WAS ALWAYS AFTER THAT PAPER & MAKIN MOVES.
DAMN WAS PHIL, AND JAY-Z WAS MICHAEL BACK THEN. THEN I GUESS HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO BE PHIL JACKSON TOO, WHEN HE BECAME DEF JAM PRES. DAME GAVE JAY THE SHOT, & PUT HIM ON. BUT IT WAS JAY THAT TOOK HIS SKILL & RAN TO THE TOP WITH IT.
I DO MISS THAT DAME DASH DICE ROLL DANCE IN THE VIDEOS THO. LOL. THAT WAS CLASSIC.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
lmao@which I think he is trying to do with Jim Jones. Your joking right? Jim Jones is the WORST !
March 27th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
DAME BE BROKE AS HECK NOW, BUT I DO RESPECT DUDE FOR NOT TRYING TO BE A RAPPER, AND AT THE SAME TIME BE IN THE VIDEOS. TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS ARTISTS.
UNLIKE SOMEBODY ELSE IN THE INDUSTRY THAT LOOKS DUMB AS F*CK RIGHT NOW, WITH A STRING OF LAME SONGS THAT ARE NOWHERE ON BILLBOARD.
LALALAL, POP CHAMPAGNE. (JIM JONES)
March 27th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Maybe it’s true but it wont be believed until he does it again.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Interesting Dame made Jay, but where is Dame WITHOUT Jay now?
“Make another Hov”
March 27th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Its so funny how everybody tries to throw pebbles at the mountain! Lol. Jay z has moved on. He hasn’t thought about Dame since the break up. Maybe if Dame humbled himself as a man and went to Jay he might help him out. Look who has done nothing but go up (Jay) since the break up and who has had a steady decline (Dame). I know Jay smiles everytime some dummy mentions his name. Jenny Jones mentions his name in every interview, that beef was how long ago? Dame need to focus on that divorce….
March 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
How can you MAKE somebody, but when you part ways with them they are the ones still doing big things YEARS after the fact and you ain’t doing shit? Your role must have not been THAT important afterall.
March 27th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
dame def. played a part… rocafella was a team.. theres no I in team, if ur team grinds for u the right way, shit gotta pop.. rocafella teamwork was on point its as simple as that.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
this is so stupid, of course damn played a major role in the career of jayz, and yes we all know wit out dame, and biggs there wouldve been no jayz. he mightve still came out but it wouldn’t have been the same.
that’s so stupid to say this cuz what’s the point he’s trying to make, there wouldve been no biggie witout puffy, there wouldve been no snoop wit out dre and suge, where would the lox have been if mary j blige didn’t give puffy their tape? there wouldve been no 50 wit out jam master jay. this was pointless there wouldve been no 23 on the bulls if the blazers didn’t pick sam bowie so did they make mike?
March 27th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
@author of this post,
Considering that
1. it took several years for Jay-Z’s first CD to come out
2. Jay-Z didn’t become a serious priority for Def Jam until later in his career, maybe after the success of his 3rd CD.
Yeah, I would say that Dame was very instrumental in Jay-Z’s career just like there would be no Biggie without the energizer-rabbit-producer-dancer-etc Puff.
At least early in his career Michael Jackson was well aware of who made his biggest selling album Thriller a success. It was the cat working the business behind the scenes, and it those days it meant heavy payola.
Do not sleep. Many artist would be still lumbering in obscurity if they didn’t build relationships with the right folks that can see a project through from conception to completion.
Uhh . . . that’s real talk.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
There would be no Jay-Z without Dame, but that doesn’t mean he made Hov. Jay already had the lyrical ability and the songs. Dame was the business mind. There are a bunch of very good rappers out there but there is no marketing behind them, n they wind up in rap limbo. But the relationship is mutual cuz without Jay there would b no Dame. That’s the artist that made the Roc like BIG mad Bad Boy.
Vurping @ Dame tyrna make the next Hov wit Jimmy. lol RTNY.
March 27th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
Without Jaz-o there would be no Jay-z, how bout dame sign that nigga Jaz-o, i bet if Jaz-o release an album it would be better than Jay-z’s last 2 shit trays. Jay-z is fallin off, dame need to find some new talent cuz jim jones latest album is terrible
March 27th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
Wondering how many of the commenters actually read the blog post or are you simply skimming through the provided excerpts or simply reacting?
March 27th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
50 dont need nobody – let the hate start ………. now
good read
next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
March 27th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
DAME SHOULD’HAVED STICK UP WITH CAMRON
THATS WHERE THE BUSINESS IS
HE ALWAYS WANTED CAM TO BE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ROC
March 27th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
So is this a desperate attempt by all of Dames friends to make Jay-Z feel guilty. Have some pride, dude. I’ve been broke and you think I was gonna let everybody know. Hold your head up with pride and keep it moving. Ni99as wouldnt worry about your money so much if you didnt make it a major issue
March 27th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Jay-Z would be nothing without Dame = Dame would be nothing without Jay-Z.
No one knew Jay-Z as an artist before Dame…No one knew Dame as a business man and millionaire before Jay-Z.
Is like asking, do you know Commons manager…? The answer is probably no. Dame would of been unknown just like him. Courtesy of Jay-Z we know Dame Dash. Period. Jay-Z wasn’t really trying to get on back in the 80s as he was when he met Dame Dash. When he saw the connections Dame had…and when he almost got shot 3 times..that woke him up and made him realize let me start listening to people (Clark Kent) and take this rap shit seriously. If you think about it..Jay-Z was the one with the “Ain’t no nigga” concept…so how the fuck foxy brown saved his career?? The bitch was just put on by Jay-Z…on that record…Jay liked her.. style and the way she rhymes he could of easily have put lil Kim on that record…just like Memphis Bleek wasn’t even supposed to be in “Coming Of Age”..that was supposed to be Shaheim from the Wu…so all these ideas for these records were jay-z’s not dames…let’s get that out of the way – even Memphis Bleek’s verse was Jay-Zs…he just wanted a young cat to spit them. One of the hottest young dudes at the time was Shaheim from the Wu.
Is obvious that the guy saying this is Dame Dash’s former atty and not an independent source. No matter how you slice it…Dame is broke, dumped and has the least talented rapper (Jim Jones) on his side. What are the odd of him succeeding? Zero. If I were Dame I reconcile with Jay-Z…1 life to live…and that’s it. Is obvious he ain’t shit without Jay-Z…ask Kanye, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and everyone else who sided with Jay-Z after the rocafella break up. Hope that answers your stupid blog.
March 27th, 2009 at 5:01 pm
^u r BUGGEN
March 27th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
realtalk doe ..i agree with him ..for the most part , without dame ..their probably wouldnt be a jay-z .but to say he made .jay to what he is now? ..dats just stupid
March 27th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
@HipHop&Depression – If I’m buggin…dame was Dame without Jay-Z..he had Original Flavor…how fucking far did they make it??!…So fuck Jay-Z stick with Original Flavor..how much money did that get Dame? Asnwer me that. uh?
Dame became a millionaire courtesy of Jay-Z and vice versa. They both needed each other. Is different if you say…Michael Jordan was nothing without Phil Jackson, that’s just idiotic. More like Phil Jackson was just an assistant coach of the bulls when Jordan was killing individually.
So is comparing Apples to Oranges. Puff Made Biggie, because Puff already had numerous hit records before Biggie hit the scene….so is a valid argument. But to say that Jay-Z wasn’t shit before Dame I can agree to that…, to say Dame wasn’t shit without Jay-Z I can also agree to that – - they both were local as they come. Underground as ever. Dame Dash did not discover Jay-Z…he didn’t sign Jay-Z, he didn’t produce for Jay-Z…so there’s no way in hell he fucking made Jay-Z.
Now Biggie is a different story, Puff signed, produce gave him style…and made him part of the pop culture…while the west had a crab hold on the rap game. Now if you tell me Biggie was nothing without Puff I can’t argue that. That’s valid.
But Jay-Z was not discovered by Dame Dash, Dame Dash did not sign Jay-Z and again did not produce not one ounce of his records, musically…so to say that is totally ludicrous to me. So stop with the non-sense…Dame and Jay’s relationship was solely business at the beginning in which eventually turned into a amicable friendship….they weren’t homies before music….it was always music related…so disloyal Jay-Z is not.
The Disloyal one is Jim Jones who was Cams man since yey high…and shitted and slept with 50 to get popular, so not only did he ditch Cam, but totally grabbed his ankles for the love of money, I would never do that…especially if we were boys since day 1 before rap. That’s disloyal.
Cased closed!
March 27th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
its possible without Dame, Jay woudnt have had that break…and it is also possible without that break, Jay would have been another wasted talent… cos im pretty sure there are outthere….
but anyways, what has happened has happened, they used each other to get what they wanted…Jay maintained his so far, Dame hasnt
March 27th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Jay said it best. “niggas wake up on dick, eat some breakfast first”
March 27th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Without Dame, Jay-Z would be rapping on someone else’s label like Nas. Looking Jay’s personality in comparison to Dame’s….Dame is the beast when it comes to arguing and standing up for his people while Jay seems layed back.
March 27th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
yea, dame help jay-z get established. jay helped dame get established. they grew apart on direction and goals in life. it’s like two ppl who get married then get a divorce. jay move on w/ his life remarried n continues to grow mentally and financially. lol while dame seems to be the spouse living off of alimony and trying make money get off who he use to be to married to n run in the same circles before the divorce.lol
March 27th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
ok so make another hov
March 28th, 2009 at 8:37 am
THEY MAKE IT SEEM LIKE REASONABLE DOUBT WAS HOV ONLY CD. WHAT HAPPEN TO THE OTHER NINE? Jayz-z showed that he was able to keep up with the times and continued to MAKE hit quality records…even with his last two cd’s dude has showed he is still relevant and a problem. The thing is that he is talking from a higher space in life….. CALMEST CAT-JAYZ
I dont know much mc’s who been so succesful. And continue to re-invent themselves thru out the years…point them out?….. In the last ten years Hov has been the only rapper to do that.
THE REASON LIL WAYNE AIN’T THE BEST RAPPER ALIVE IS BECAUSE HOV CONTINUES TO DROP MUSIC AND STILL IMPRESSING THEM…THEY BE SCRATCHING THEY HEADS LIKE DAMN HOW DOES HE CONTINUES TO DO IT.
As for Dame man either try and recociliate with Jay like someone said here before or get over it. Your the one who hasn’t done nothing in the game since 2003 or 2004 when jay gave you the boot… Do something beneficial for you self and stop casting blames for others…
Maybe that’s another reason your wife wants a divorce maybe she is also tired of you blaming others for your mistakes and FAILS…. take resposibility fro your own actions… grow up….NOBODY LIKES WHINNERS…….
If you say you was the reason then make yourself rich again.
March 28th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
napoleon Says:
March 27th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
EVERYBODY ALREADY KNOWS THAT. INCLUDING JAY-Z.
IT PROB WOUND UP BEING ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS WHERE THEY BOTH STARTING GETTING MONEY, AFTER THE DEF JAM DEAL, THEN TOWARDS THE BREAK-UP. DAME WAS LIKE STILL IN THE SAME LANE, LIKE THIS IS WHERE I’MMA STAY, FU&K IT, WHATEVER! YA KNOW, AND JAY-Z STILL HAD THAT DRIVE, LIKE I WANNA BE DEF JAM PRESIDENT & MAKE THESE MAJOR MOVES SO I CAN SECURE MY FUTURE. AND MAKE THE MOST OF THIS OPPORTUNITY. LIKE THEY HAD THE SAME SITUATION, JUST WANTED A DIFFERENT FUTURE. THEN AGAIN, I DON’T KNOW.
IT’S WEIRD THAT HE BROKE, CAUSE IT SEEM LIKE DAMN WAS ALWAYS AFTER THAT PAPER & MAKIN MOVES.
DAMN WAS PHIL, AND JAY-Z WAS MICHAEL BACK THEN. THEN I GUESS HE FIGURED OUT HOW TO BE PHIL JACKSON TOO, WHEN HE BECAME DEF JAM PRES. DAME GAVE JAY THE SHOT, & PUT HIM ON. BUT IT WAS JAY THAT TOOK HIS SKILL & RAN TO THE TOP WITH IT.
I DO MISS THAT DAME DASH DICE ROLL DANCE IN THE VIDEOS THO. LOL. THAT WAS CLASSIC.
Yo that was some ill shit right there.. I never heard anyone put it in terms like that, and when you look at it that’s the way it was Dame did play the coach position. but hov played both lanes as they got bigger, and wanted to do make Roc-a-fella a defjam to where they need no one to speak to. which would have been a good look if they kept it in tac and have hov run def jam and the roc let album would have never flopped. I don’t know if anyone read the Article where Hov said he thought about getting back together but when you have people running there mouth to the public about the situation you don’t give a fuck no more. just the same with the Cam and Jimmy situation. if you have one side trying to make a move to better themselves and the other side doing the same but bad mouthing the other person in the process it not going to to workout.
Like if you break up with ya girl ya was together for like 4yrs. you don’t turn around and tell her peoples it was 4yrs of nothing and she thinking it was her best yrs of her life. it’s no coming back from that. and it’s crazy cause hov is the god son to boogie (dame’s son). I miss the old roc but i’m also glad they not togther anymore because them niggas depended on hov to do everything from dame on down to the artists who still crying about not being promoted. and to answer the question no one can sit anywhere and say they made another niggga unless you the pops of someone. that shit gay to speak for the next nigga. ROC 4 LIFE right? lol
March 30th, 2009 at 4:23 am
Sounds like sh!t I’ve said before…lol!
Dame got fcked (maybe deservedly) but his azzhole tactics are a big reason jay got to were he got and a big reason Dame can’t get anywhere.
As a business man who wants a one man label? So dame was wrong for bringin in a successful self made camp in Dipset…gtfoh jay had to maintain flagship status and dudes were startin to outshine him so he took his ball and left the park… it is what it is and it was meant to happen.
but to make it seem like Dame tried to fck him it doesn’t seem like that was the true angle but jay felt a way about the moves so in turn he ended up fckin everyone!