The real root of Dame Dash and JAY-Z's estranged relationship is one of rap's biggest mysteries. Although he didn't say this caused the demise of Roc-A-Fella, Dash did note that Hov was interested in Aaliyah.
"He tried very hard," Dash said during a recent interview with Page Six. He went on to admit that JAY-Z wasn't the only person that was interested in the singer.
"Everybody was trying to get to Aaliyah—it was not just JAY," Dame said. "I did not know JAY was trying to holler at her, but then it just happened like that. He was trying, I was trying. Everybody was trying — he was going hard."
Dash and Aaliyah eventually started dating in 2000 and were a couple when Aaliyah passed away in 2001. His relationship with Aaliyah forced him to distance himself from R. Kelly. Earlier this year, Dame stated that the fact Hov continued to have a working relationship with Kelly bothered him.
"I really am not on the Best of Both Worlds. I didn't go to a show. I didn't have my name on any of that. I was in 'Fiesta,' but only because Aaliyah said she wanted me to do it that way," Dash told Hip Hop Motivators' Kenyatta Griggs. Dash also said that this proved to him that he and Jigga weren't on the same page morally. "I know I’m not fuckin’ with that. I knew, morally, we weren’t the same... To me, Roc-a-Fella was defunct. It was over. I couldn’t fuck with it. It was something that, to me—I don’t wanna say 'unforgivable,' but I couldn’t understand it."
