My Philosophy w/ Dame Dash [Video]
It’s hard to imagine that one of the three founding fathers of Roc-A-Fella Records, Damon “Dame” Dash, doesn’t consider himself a hip-hop mogul. Despite his contributions to the label and Rocawear clothing line alongside Jay Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, the self-made businessman says his impact is deeper than rap.
In the first installment of VIBE’s My Philosophy, Dame breaks down his business model, capitalizing with his partner Biggs and defines what a boss is. Watch part one of the three-part series above.
Part 2 & 3 after the jump.
Dame Dash has had big deals and little things, but his business model is one most can’t imitate. “People say never put up your own money. I’m saying put your own money up,” he tells VIBE in part two of My Philosophy. “Work harder than everyone, be patient and just know that if you’re going to do something on your own, you’re gonna have to feel some pain.” It’s his flair for risk-taking that has also hurt the Roc-A-Fella co-founder’s wallet. Back in May, he filed a five-page court document detailing the extent of his debt, owing $2 million in IRS taxes and apparently abandoning his upstate New York estate. Still, his hustler’s mentality has stayed in tact and owning his investments. However, it hasn’t stopped him from falling victim to funny-style characters.
The Internets went wild when a photo of Jay Z and Dame Dash together surfaced back in August. Reunited and it felt so good. Though the relationship between the former Roc-A-Fella partners went sour after years of rumored personal differences, Dame assures his bank account is what kept him from beefing. “Because people part ways in business doesn’t mean they should be considered enemies. That’s just some hype that the press sold,” he tells VIBE. “Anytime I ran into Jay, it was what it was going to be. I made too much money to be mad at him.” For the final installment of My Philosophy, Dame Dash also speaks on his loyalty to Cam’ron and Jim Jones and his strong belief in karma. “My thing is to make everyone around me rich, not to say be responsible for that, [but] because I’m always secure with the friends that I love are alright,” Dame adds. “We used to live by that code called the Circle of Success.” Watch him discuss the happiness of success and why he pays the bad press no mind above.
