Damon Dash ready to end Jay-Z feud: “We need to squash everything”
Damon Dash has said that he’s open to ending the decades-long feud with his Roc-A-Fella co-founder Jay-Z.
His comments come on the back of Jay’s heartfelt shout-out to Dash during his acceptance speech at the ceremony for his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. Former US president Barack Obama inducted Jay-Z as the latest rap star to receive the honour, joining previous hip-hop inductees The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac, N.W.A. and Public Enemy.
“Shout-out to Dame,” Jay said during his speech. “I know we don’t see eye to eye, but I can never erase your accomplishments. And I appreciate you and I thank you for that.”
"Shout-out to Dame Dash… Shout-out to Biggs"#RockHall2021
— JAY-Z Daily (@JAY_Z_Daily) October 31, 2021
Dash called the gesture “beautiful”, telling Page Six that he was surprised to get the shout-out from his former friend.
“I’m glad he said it for the culture. We need to squash everything. So hopefully if that was an extended [olive branch], I’ll spin one back.”
“I have no beef with [him] if [he has] no beef with me,” he added. “Let’s get the lawyers out of it then. Let’s talk like men, but I definitely appreciate it.”
The feud between Dash and Jay extends back to when they started Roc-A-Fella in 1995, along with Kareem “Biggs” Burke. Jay-Z’s career grew massively, and when Def Jam purchased Roc-A-Fella, there was a falling out that led to decades of shots back and forth.
The feud hit a new high this summer when Dash filed a lawsuit against Jay-Z over the streaming rights to the rapper’s debut album ‘Reasonable Doubt’. This followed an earlier suit that was filed by Roc-A-Fella against Dash, claiming that he was attempting to sell virtual ownership of the copyright to the rapper’s 1996 album.
Though a New York federal judge blocked an attempt by Dash to auction off Jay-Z‘s ‘Reasonable Doubt’ as an NFT (non-fungible token), an official NFT from Jay-Z was later announced. Through the suit, Dash sought a minimum of $1million (£720,000) in damages for “unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, replevin, and conversion”.
Meanwhile, Jay-Z recently shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s The Closer, saying “true art has to cause conversation”.
“Sometimes it’s going to be abrasive, something it’s going to be off-putting to folks,” he said. But it opens up an opportunity to have a dialogue.” The rapper went on to call Chappelle “super brave and super genius” during a Q+A on Twitter.
