Veteran music executive Damon “Dame” Dash says it’s Ye over Jay any day as the greatest emcee to emerge from Roc-A-Fella. The 51-year-old businessman made the not-so-shocking admission during a recent interview with “Podcast and Chill with MacG” when asked who’s the most significant artist to represent the iconic hip hop record label.
After giving it some thought, Dame narrowed the label’s lengthy roster of acts over the years down to two emcees, Jay-Z, and Kanye West, expressing around the 26:45-mark of the interview that “If it’s a choice between Jay and Kanye, I’m going with Kanye,” before adding “All day, every day.” The successful entrepreneur explained that he viewed the “Jesus Walks” emcee as the “more creative” one, whereas he felt Jay did it for monetary benefits.
He continued, “Now I can speak on that because I worked with both of them, right. You know, Kanye is a true artist, and he does it for the art, and Jay-Z does it for the money. It’s two different things.”
Dame ultimately signed Ye to Roc-a-Fella Records in 2002 despite Jay’s hesitancy during a time the Chicago native was primarily viewed as a producer rather than an emcee.
While some fans debated the executive’s musical choice, others seemed more frustrated at Dame’s constant mentioning of the Brooklyn native, including one Twitter user who wrote, “Why this dude continue to speak on Jay? Dude like a scorned lover. Everybody does it for money. No artists are out here just not getting paid at all.”
Another person commented, “I feel bad for Dame his legacy forever tied to Jay Z. Can never get away from talking about him, probably thinking about him and just hating him. That’s a bad existence, he needs to forgive and move on or he will always come off like a hurt ex girlfriend!”
“Jay Z’s a billionaire and numerous rappers have said that he doesn’t charge for collabing,” commented a third person. “Dame’s just clout chasing because Hov’s getting great reviews for ‘God Did’ and he wants a little attention too..Dame needs to move on…”
