S. Samuel
Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon "Dame" Dash has finally come forward and addressed reports claiming he owes roughly $3 million in taxes.
Dame said his role as an active businessman with multiple ventures has left him unable to pay off debts.
“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 laundering money 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”)
Reports of Dash’s financial crunch hit the Internet in late July.
Hip-hop tastemaker Damon Dash, the Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear Clothing exec, dashed from yet another tax bill, according to the feds. The IRS just filed a nearly $3 million tax lien against the music and fashion impresario. The bill adds to the 40-year-old Dash’s notorious status among tax collectors. The IRS filed a $2,984,364 lien against Dash on June 30 with the New York City Register’s Office. (Detroit News)
In the past, Dash blamed his financial issues on taking care of associates before himself.
“My mistake was watching everyone else’s careers and not watching mine,” Dame explained. “After being able to settle mywife’s company, I was able to start doing other things. My first approach was the music business and getting with Jim Jones. At first I wanted to help him because I’ve known him since he was young and me listening to the album and thinking it was really good. I thought it deserved to be heard outside of the urban market. So I spent the last six months doing research, trying to figure out how to use all my resources to blow this out…I’m not in the community like I used to be. I just know that good records sell. But I also know I don’t depend so much on record sales.” (Billboard)
In 2010, Dash discussed his money troubles and blamed the media for building too much hype around the matter.
“I started to go through a lot of bad press all of a sudden,” he explains of the period following the sale of his shares in Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear Clothing. “Like, the recession hit everybody, but me being a businessman and motherf*ckers getting caught up in the storm, all my issues were completely public. And completely exaggerated. So the recession sh*t happens, I don’t give a f*ck.” (YRB Magazine)
Check out some past Dame Dash footage down below:
