A lot of writers and bloggers in the hip hop community like to keep up with the current trends and info about the culture but i take cats back to when this thing our ours was truly hip hop before it became hip pop. When we talk about hip hop there are some names we cant or should not forget to mention, men who sacrificed their time, money and brains to advance this beautiful thing of ours, a true culture that is solely credited to the black race, hip hop, yeah! Its a black mans thing no matter how Eminem or whoever goes in on it, it belongs to niggas and niggas like Damon Dash help lay the foundation for hip hop to smoothly sail into the millennium. So my question is, Do you really know who Dame Dash is?
Am not here to talk about Dame's life history or his personal life, that's not my business, you can Google him if that's what you care about, my intention is for you to recognize the input this brilliant black entrepreneur contributed to hip hop and how he was able to turn ''the stone the builders rejected to become the chief cornerstone'' Am going bible quote on your ass now LOL! But that is the true description of what Dame did with Jay Z' and Kanye West music career. there are others on the roll call like Beanie Segal, Memphis Bleek, Freeway, Camron, Amil, but i mention Jay and Ye because they have enjoyed immense success in the hip hop world currently two of the biggest names and most awarded artist in the game including forty Grammy awards between the two of them, Jay Z is considered the biggest Hip hop superstar. Could this be a co-incidence that they were both product of Dame's impeccable ability to see the diamond in the rough? Jay Z almost gave up being a rapper as no one would sign him, yeah! For those of you who did not know, there was a time when no one understood where Jay Z was coming from lyrically, a few dudes like DJ Clark Kent believed in him and tried to help him get a record deal but it dint happen, until Kent introduced Jay Z to Dame Dash and the rest is history.
THE MARRIAGE OF HARLEM AND BROOKLYN
Dame began managing Jay Z, filled with so many bright ideas, he connected with Jay like no one else did, perhaps being a product of private school contributed to his intellectual prowess, Dame kept pushing Jay in anyway he could, shows, features, selling demos independently, trying to get a record deal. When no record company was able to grasp the vision of these super intelligent niggas, Dame being the determined dude that he is felt it was time to grab the bull by the horn and start their own record label along with Kareem Biggs, and that was the birth of Roc-A-Fella, One of the biggest record label in hip hop history. When you mention Deathrow records and BadBoy records, Roc-A-Fella comes next, but this label started with no parent company support, it was just Damon Dash, his passion and believe in Jay z. With the song 'i cant get with that' and their first video shot with five thousand dollars followed by 'In My Life Time' 'Dead Presidents' and 'Ent No Nigga' The latter became the song that shot Jay Z to fame while 'Hard knock Life' made him a superstar and the song became a worldwide anthem, this led to the first all rap artist tour, a precedent set by Dame Dash and the Roc-A-Fella crew.
Dame did it again with Kanye West, Kareem 'Biggs' Burke the third partner of Roc-A-Fella was the one who made Dame pay attention to Kanye West, Kanye was known as a badazz producer from Chicago but no one took him serious when he said he could rap, everyone felt his persona was not marketable for hip hop, being a college boy with a college boy swag but Dame did not give up on him, he signed him on to Roc-A-Fella first as a producer then as an artist, today Kanye is more of a badazz lyricist than he is a producer with twenty one Grammy awards under his belt. Once again Dame proved he was the Nostradamus of hip hop
Dame's belief in his abilities makes him leave the path everybody else is following to create his own. Dame helped create one of the biggest Music empire, a clothing line that still rocks and sells millions daily, put artists on the map that hip hop will not forget in a long time, and left a blueprint of business ideas that almost everyone in the hip hop business is practicing till date. Dame is the man, a lot of people criticize him for his tough and aggressive business methods, but they forget he used that energy to propel a change that contributed to the growth and and success of independent label/artist structure, today almost everyone one is independent in the game and starting their own label, Dame was the man who blew breath in their lungs, with no prior A&R experience he took Jay and made him a household name and a brand with just ghetto determination. For everyone that has taken shot at him saying he is broke or no longer relevant, am yet to read or watch anyone not admit how intelligent and creative the dude is, even Jay Z sometime ago remarked Dames' abilities and reaffirmed his confidence in him. I don't understand how people judge a man, some people learn their lessons, change their priorities in life and start acting their age but to the lame man, this is being broke and irrelevant. Dame is no longer in his twenties so i do not expect him to be the man he was fifteen years ago, take it or leave it, the man that's got two million and the man that's got twenty million are both millionaires, so if they say Dame is broke its a joke because his intellectual property is priceless and financially speaking he is still a millionaire in assets.
That's Dame for you, the man who sets precedents, who gave us a hip hop dynasty, who gave us the truth about the industry vultures who turn friends to enemies, who is not afraid to challenge anyone who messes with him, his business or friends, a man who stood by his friends and fought for their success like a gallant soldier, I say if hip hop was the army, Dame Dash is no doubt a 5 star general.
