Damon Dash

Background

Damon Dash is an African-American born in New York City on May 3, 1971. He lost his mother when he was 15 years old due to asthma. He learned to “hustle” from a young age, selling newspapers and sweeping the local Harlem barbershop floors to buy apparel and sneakers. Dash met Shawn Carter, a skilled Brooklyn rapper known as Jay-Z, in the early 1990s. Seeing the dismal reaction from big record labels, the two teamed up with Kareem “Biggs” Burke to form Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995. The label released Jay-debut Z’s album, “Reasonable Doubt,” which sold 500,000 copies. Soon after, he signed a joint-venture arrangement with Def Jam Records, which brought in more artists, including D.M.X., Red Man, and Method Man. Dash, not one to throw away his newfound wealth, expanded his Roc-A-Fella enterprise to include other businesses. In 1998, he founded Roc-A-Fella Films to produce urban films and hip-hop documentaries like “Backstage,” increasing his net worth. In 1999, he and Jay-Z co-founded Rocawear, a hip-hop clothing line aimed at urban men. By 2000, Rocawear’s sales had surpassed $100 million, putting it in direct competition with Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

He dated Aaliyah, an R&B singer whom he met in 2000. They were a couple until Aaliyah’s sad death in 2001. He married fashion designer Rachel Roy in 2005, and the couple has two kids, Ava and Tallulah. They divorced in 2009 after a tumultuous relationship and custody struggle. He is currently engaged to Raquel Horn, who is expecting their first child. Dash has two kids from previous relationships, Dame “Boogie” Dash, born in 1991 with Linda Williams, and Lucky, born in 2005 with Cindy Morales.

In August 2005, he sold his holdings in Rocawear and thus ended his engagement with the Roc-A-Fella Records. He thereafter focused his efforts on managing all of his other businesses, which included Dash-DiBella Promotions, Tiret New York, Pro-Keds, Armadale Vodka, and others at the time. He also formed DD172, a media collective that included the magazine “America Nu,” the record label BluRoc Records, the web design firm VNGRD79, and an art gallery. Dash has courted controversy throughout his life due to his bold and confrontational personality. His feud with Jay-Z over Roc-A-Fella Records and later Rocawear has been widely known. In 2008, foreclosure proceedings on two of his Manhattan houses began because he and his wife, Rachel Roy, owed around $7.3 million on the two homes alone at the time. In 2012, rapper Curren$y filed a $1.5 million lawsuit against him for allegedly publishing the rapper’s music without authorization. In 2009, the court mandated him to pay $500,000 to his son Boogie’s mother. In 2015, his ex-wife, Rachel Roy, filed a restraining order against him after domestic abuse allegations, which the court upheld. He was detained in 2019 while appearing in New York City Federal Court for an unrelated case for failing to pay more than $400,000 in child support to two distinct claimants. Dash is believed to have had to pay close to $1 million to get released.