Dame Dash dropped by Real 92.3 for an interview with Big Boy, discussing his career so far and some the close collaborators he met along the way. Close to the half way point of the interview he spoke about his relationship with JAY-Z, whom he co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with before they fell out over a decade ago.
"We have fundamental differences. I'm about making other people famous and rich and equal, that's what I wanted with Roc-A-Fella," he said at the 22:40 point of the interview. "And he wanted to be the boss and have people work for him for 25 years straight, which is what happened. I actually feel sorry for my fallen angels, because i've taught people to share. [...] I make kings, I don't make slaves."
He didn't go into detail about the situation, but when asked further he simply added, "I don't wanna talk about JAY-Z. You know why it's not fair? 'Cause he doesn't talk about it." He continued, "No matter what, I feel he robbed me. Period. And no matter what, I'm always gonna feel that way. If I hit somebody with some work and they run off, I forgive it. It don't bother me, but if you asked me about that person, I'm like, 'Nah, he ran off.'"
He then said that the way JAY treated their business relationship was unfair. "The way he did me was dirty, the way he did Biggs was dirty..." he added. "He went [and] told L.A. Reid, 'I want Roc-A-Fella, I don't want Dame and Biggs down...' And we was like, 'Damn, out of left.' When I had the conversations yeah I wanna look like a boss, I can't look like a boss around him. I thought that was dirty. The shit he did the Roc with? That was dirty. When he said he wasn't gonna be a part of it while I was selling it devalued it and then, you know, I stepped away from it because I needed to go do my own thing. And then all of a sudden they go and do a big deal like that? That was dirty."
Recently, Dame Dash mentioned JAY-Z in an interview with Page Six. He claimed that Hov was interested in Aaliyah. "I did not know JAY was trying to holler at her, but then it just happened like that. He was trying, I was trying," he said. "Everybody was trying, he was trying hard."
During the interview, he also spoke about what he saw in Kanye West early on and what their relationship is like these days. "He is a disrupter, a world-shaker, but he's also respectful to the people that deserve it," he said at 11:40. "He invokes emotion and he's great for the economy," he added, before confirming that they're still in regular contact.
