Damon Dash

Last updated

Damon Dash
Damon Dash by David Shankbone.jpg
Dash in 2007
Born
Damon Anthony Dash

(1971-05-03) May 3, 1971 (age 53)
New York City, U.S.
Other namesDame Dash
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • record executive
  • media proprietor
  • actor
  • record producer
Years active1991–present
Known forCo–founder of Roc-A-Fella
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2005;div. 2009)​
Partners
Children5
Relatives Stacey Dash (cousin)
Darien Dash (cousin)

Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. [4] He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Jay-Z and Kareem Burke in 1994, [5] and co-founded the fashion retailer Rocawear with the former in 1999.

Contents

Early life

Born in New York City, Dash swept the floors of a local barbershop and sold newspapers in order to buy sneakers and shirts as a teenager. Dash "learned to hustle", in his own words, from the example of his mother, who died of an asthma attack when he was 15. [6] The same year, Dash was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. [7] "Before I was diagnosed... I went about a month or two just going to the bathroom non-stop and losing weight", Dash recalled. "Magic Johnson had just been diagnosed with AIDS, so that's what I thought I had. I was scared to even go to the doctor. I thought I was going to die." [7]

Career

Dash served as Jay-Z's manager and business partner at Roc-A-Fella Records, and in 1999, he organized a tour for Jay-Z which made $19 million. [8] Their relationship soured as a result of two subsequent events. The first was when Roc-A-Fella Records was purchased by Def Jam Recordings (which had previously only owned half of the company) in 2004, after which Jay-Z agreed to take a job as Def Jam's president. Then, in late 2005, Jay-Z bought Dash out of his stake in Rocawear. [9]

In April 2014, it was announced that Dash is involved with Blind Debit, a fingerprint payment application being developed by Dez White. [10]

Dash founded DD172, a media collective which encompasses: America Nu, a magazine; VNGRD79, a web design firm; BluRoc Records, a record label division. [11] It also includes an art gallery. [12]

Personal life

Dash met R&B singer Aaliyah in New York City in the summer of 2000 through his accountant, [13] [14] and dated her until her death on August 25, 2001, in a plane crash in The Bahamas. [15] Though they were not formally engaged, in interviews given after Aaliyah's death, Dash stated that the couple had planned to marry. [16]

In 2005, Dash married fashion designer Rachel Roy, whom he had dated prior to his relationship with Aaliyah. They met when she was working as an intern at Rocawear. Together they have two daughters, Ava Dash (born December 7, 1999) and Tallulah Dash (born May 14, 2008). [17] Following their divorce in 2009, they had a bitter custody battle. [18]

Dash has a son, Dame "Boogie" Dash (born November 28, 1991), with former girlfriend Linda Williams. [17] Boogie stars in the reality television show Growing Up Hip Hop . [19] He also has another son, Lucky, born in 2004 with Cindy Morales. [17] [20]

Dash and his fiancée Raquel Horn have a son, Dusko Dash, born on November 14, 2020. [21]

Dash is a first cousin of the actress Stacey Dash. [22]

In 2012, rapper Curren$y sued Dash for $1.5 million for releasing his music without permission. [23] Dash's attorney released a statement that Dash released the music on fair grounds. [24]

In 2014, Dash was ordered to pay Linda Williams, the mother of his son Boogie, $50,000 for causing her to be prosecuted on harassment charges in 2009. [25]

In April 2015, Dash's ex-wife, Rachel Roy, accused him of domestic abuse and filed for a restraining order. [18] Roy was awarded sole custody of their daughters. The court granted Roy and her daughters with a three-year restraining order against Dash. [26] Days later, Dash filed a $2.5 million claim against Roy in asserted damage for allegedly mishandling their joint fashion business, Royale Etenia. [27]

In 2018, Dash settled a suit he filed against director Lee Daniels requesting $5 million to recoup a $2 million investment with interest. [28] Lee had received financial support from Dash early in his career, and reportedly failed to repay him despite his subsequent success. [29]

In November 2019, Dash was arrested for failing to pay more than $400,000 in child support. Dash was in New York City for an unrelated Federal Court appearance when he was arrested for two warrants. The first warrant was issued in April 2015 in the Supreme Court in New York County case of Cindy Morales; he owed $62,553 since 2012. [30] The second warrant was issued in March 2019 in the Bronx Family Court case of Rachel Roy. He was ordered to pay her $341,991 and $25,000 for attorney fees in 2015. [31] [30] Dash reportedly paid more than $1 million to be released. [17]

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References

  1. ↑ "7 Facts About Aaliyah: Get The Scoop Before You Watch the Lifetime Movie" . Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  2. ↑ Martin Berrios (February 11, 2021). "Boss Moves: Damon Dash Proposes To Long-Time Wifey For Lifey Raquel Horn". Hip Hop Wired. Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  3. ↑ Kyle Eustice (February 10, 2021). "VETERAN HIP HOP EXEC DAME DASH PROPOSES TO NEWBORN SON'S MOTHER AHEAD OF STUDIO RELAUNCH". HipHopDX . Retrieved September 28, 2021.
  4. ↑ Baron, Zach (January 13, 2010). "Welcome to Damon Dash's DD172, New York's Last Line of Defense Against "Wack World"". The Village Voice . Village Voice, LLC. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  5. ↑ Fraser, George C. (May 5, 2009). Success Runs in Our Race. Harper Collins. ISBN   9780061927027.
  6. ↑ "Dash to Solo Success for Hip Hop Mogul". CNN . Retrieved November 26, 2013.
  7. 1 2 Adams, Mary Elizabeth (February 4, 2021). "Dame Dash: "Diabetes Makes Me a Superhero"". One Drop. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  8. ↑ "New Entrepreneurs". Ebony. January 1, 2001.
  9. ↑ Konigsberg, Eric (June 19, 2006). "Why Damon Dash Hates Mondays". New York . Retrieved February 3, 2014.
  10. ↑ Hutcherson, Lori (April 19, 2014). "Invisible Apps Creator Dez White and GirlCodeLA". KTLA. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ Paine, Jake (September 27, 2011). "Dame Dash Explains BluRoc Mission, Upholding Lifestyle In Independence, And Being A Candidate To Run Death Row Records". HipHopDX.
  12. ↑ "Welcome to Damon Dash's DD172, New York's Last Line of Defense Against "Wack World" - New York Music - Sound of the City". Archived from the original on August 11, 2011.
  13. ↑ Warner, Jennifer (2014). Aaliyah: A Biography. BookCaps Study Guides. ISBN   9781500628215.
  14. ↑ "Damon Dash Talks Losing Aaliyah: 'Nothing Prepares You for That'". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
  15. ↑ Damon Dash Remembers Aaliyah: "Every Time I Was With Her, I Felt It Was The Place To Be" August 25, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2019
  16. ↑ Calloway, Sway; Hiatt, Brian; Kroft, Ryan (August 28, 2001). "Damon Dash Says Every Day with Aaliyah Was Special". MTV News. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Tracy, Brianne (November 21, 2019). "Damon Dash Arrested for Unpaid Child Support, Released After Paying More Than $1 Million: Report". People.
  18. 1 2 Gardner, David (April 3, 2015). "Rachel Roy, Damon Dash's Ex-Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.
  19. ↑ Muhammad, Latifah (August 31, 2017). "EXCLUSIVE: Boogie Dash Needs a 'Wake-Up Call' in 'Growing Up Hip Hop' Sneak Peek". Entertainment Tonight.
  20. ↑ "Damon Dash marries longtime girlfriend after getting groupie pregnant". People. January 19, 2005. Archived from the original on April 28, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2018.
  21. ↑ Rodriguez, Karla (November 15, 2020). "Dame Dash welcomes fifth child with fiancée Raquel Horn". REVOLT. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Stacey Dash Threatens to Sue Cousin Dame Dash Over New Film". EBONY. December 7, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  23. ↑ RJ Cubarrubia (March 27, 2012). "Currensy Sues Damon Dash for $1.5 Million; Dash's Attorney Responds". Billboard.
  24. ↑ Battan, Carrie (March 27, 2012). "Damon Dash Responds to Curren$y Lawsuit". Pitchfork.
  25. ↑ Ross, Barbara (March 17, 2014). "Former Roc-A-Fella Records chief Damon Dash has to pay out $50,000 to his ex-girlfriend for pushing to have her prosecuted for harassment". New York Daily News.
  26. ↑ Bacardi, Francesca (April 21, 2015). "Rachel Roy Gets Custody of Kids and a Restraining Order Against Damon Dash—All the Details". E! Online.
  27. ↑ Gardner, Eriq Gardner (April 24, 2015). "Damon Dash Strikes Back at Ex-Wife Rachel Roy With $2.5 Million Claims". The Hollywood Reporter.
  28. ↑ Nelson, Daryl (November 27, 2018). "Damon Dash and Lee Daniels Finally Settle Beef Over $2 Million Film Investment". Atlanta Black Star.
  29. ↑ Boone, Keyaira (November 28, 2018). "Lee Daniels Finally Settles $5M Lawsuit With Dame Dash". Essence.
  30. 1 2 Maisel, Todd (November 20, 2019). "Producer/rapper Damon Dash arrested for failure to pay child support". am New York.
  31. ↑ Ross, Barbara (April 30, 2015). "Damon Dash hit with arrest warrant, ordered to pay $342K to ex-wife to avoid jail". New York Daily News.
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