Dame Dash was a recent guest on “The Gauds Show,” where the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records talked about his time at the legendary rap label and how he not only shifted culture as an executive but empowered artists to make their own decisions.
One emcee whom he gave carte blanche to the record company resources and creative freedom is his Harlem childhood friend, Cam’ron.
When recording his debut platinum-selling project, “Come Home with Me,” the Dipset general decided to delete Jay-Z’s verse off his 2002 hit song, “Oh Boy.”
Dash believes Cam made a wise choice due to the Brooklyn rapper’s history of hopping on people’s songs, and later either taking credit for it or jacking it for his own projects.
“Jay had a pattern of … just jacking n—gas’ records,” said Dash, who used to manage Jay-Z before becoming his partner, “So, Cam protected him. [He said] ‘You’re not taking credit for this record.’”
The father of four got pushback from one of the three hosts but tried to explain what he claims to have witnessed over the years of working with the “Reasonable Doubt” lyricist.
He added, “Jay had a strategy of once somebody’s record was hot, jumping on it and then taking it and then it would be like it was his record.”
Daniels offered that Jay-Z did the same thing to Joe Budden with his popular song, “Pump It Up.”
Dash pointed to two songs where this happened. The former executive alleges “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” was originally for another rapper under Roc-A-Fella, Omillio Sparks. Sparks says in a promo for his 2007 project that he wrote the song’s hook for The Neptunes-produced standout single on Jay’s “The Dynasty: Roc-La-Familia” album.
He also said that Jay-Z did the same to Ja Rule on the hit song, “Can I Get A…”
Young Guru, Jay-Z’s longtime engineer, got wind of the conversation on the X platform and defended his friend and boss.
“CAP on this narrative that jay STEALS songs,” he tweeted.
“1. Jay got ‘I just want to love you’ directly from Pharrell and made the song from scratch. Sparks says a Rick James hook. 2. ‘Can I get’ was Irv’s idea, literally said “Jay get on this record but please keep JA” I love you OG but nah,” Guru continued.
CAP on this narrative that jay STEALS songs
— Young Guru (@Young_Guru) December 21, 2023
1. Jay got “I just want to love you” directly from Pharrell and made the song from scratch. Sparks says a Rick James hook.
2. “Can I get” was Irv’s idea, literally said “Jay get on this record but please keep JA”
I love you OG but nah https://t.co/4UeUZXgUpI
He also addressed the allegations of yanking the former Slaughter House rapper’s song, saying he just spit an ill freestyle over a dope track.
“And while we are here ‘Pump it Up’ was for a mixtape. That is what a mixtape was at the time. Rap over the hottest beats out. Everyone did that for mixtapes,” Guru said.
Dash began collaborating with Jay-Z in the 1990s, initially managing him and the group Original Flava. In 1996, they co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records alongside Kareem “Biggs” Burke. The venture thrived for eight years, catapulting the careers of stars such as Memphis Bleek, Beanie Siegel, Freeway, Cam’ron, Jim Jones, Young Gunz, Teairra Mari, Kanye West and many more.
Following the dissolution of their partnership, Dash faced financial challenges, a stark contrast to Jay-Z’s amassed billions.
Recently, Dash made headlines for failing to meet child support obligations. Despite financial constraints, he continues to adopt new labels. The new one he is rocking is a departure from the high-end designer brands of the 2000s. Roc-A-Wear or the other big names he celebrated in the 2000s have been replaced with a new self-coined term that encapsulates his current state in 2023.
“I’m proudly broke,” he declared, encapsulating his present reality with a label that resonates with who he is today.
