S. Samuel
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon "Dame" Dash recently spoke on his music empire and why people have a misconstrued perception of his business status.
According to Dame, his critics have no idea how much business he actually has his hands in and blames his own image for being what attracts so much negative attention.
“It depends on what you perceive as a win or a loss,” Dame said in an interview when asked to address speculation of his finances and businesses crumbling. “To me, the minute I make $20 million, I put it all back in the street. That’s just what I do, there’s no fear in it. … I think the difference between me and everybody else is when I have tax problems, it’s in the paper. When other people do, it’s not. I don’t really care. So whatever perception is, it doesn’t really bother me. It’s all about quality of living. My quality of living has never been compromised. Ever. I got galleries all over the world, how could I be [a wrap?] I’m like, ‘D*mn, I did star Rachel Roy and sold half of it to Jones New York.’ I don’t see anybody else doing that right now. I’ve done so many other things, I just have not tried to advertise it so I guess people’s perceptions are different. … I know so many businessmen who are never known for what they’re doing. I know billionaires that ride coach. … Everybody I know with real money is low, is low-key.” (“The Combat Jack Show”)
He also discussed wanting to have a bigger life and legacy away from the hip-hop spotlight.
“I lived the hip-hop mogul dream. Sh*t is old past 35. You can’t do it past 35,” Dame added, referring to putting his all into hip-hop. “You look too old. You just can’t. I think my evolution has been ridiculous, the business I’ve accomplished and the things I’ve done. So it’s usually the people who don’t know what’s going on that are usually the most talkative or the most ignorant about it and it’s not for me to correct it. I almost prefer it, keep them out my life. Is that what you call having nothing? Having all of these different companies, having galleries and having clothing lines that are $50 to $100 million.” (“The Combat Jack Show”)
Back in 2011, former Roc-A-Fella Records rapper Freeway spoke on Dame and allegations of him having cash problems.
“I don’t really know man, I haven’t talked to him,” Free explained, referring to Dash. “The last time I talked to him, I probably talked to him months ago. I don’t even remember if it was months ago. He was like, ‘Man, I’m cool.’ — I’ll tell you one thing about Dame. He was like the main n*gga telling us, ‘Make sure you pay y’all taxes and make sure y’all do this and do that.’ … I don’t know, man…I don’t see how you could go from Dame Dash to bootlegging liquor, because Dame had bread. So I don’t believe that sh*t.” (“Superstar Radio”)
Dash previously addressed his publicized battle woes with taxes.
“I owe way more than $2 million in taxes,” Dame explained in an interview. “That must’ve just been the IRS — Nah, nah, I’m f—ed up…It’s the price of business; it is what it is. I owe taxes: I got to pay…They’re auditing me. When you’re a business man, you have a lot of businesses, a lot of times they think you’re launderingmoney or you’re pretending you’re writing things off that you don’t — I’m a true businessman. As you know, I believe in my independence, I have no partners, so every dollar I make goes right back into every business I have.” (“Sway In The Morning”)
Check out Dame Dash’s interview:
