Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. Dash is best known as co-founder of

Roc-A-Fella Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

along with

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and

Kareem Burke Kareem "Biggs" Burke (born January 19, 1974) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and producer. He is best known as the co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records along with Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Damon "Dame" Dash. Early life Kareem Bur ...

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 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 Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

attack when he was 15. The same year, Dash was diagnosed with

type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar ...

. "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 Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, so that’s what I thought I had. I was scared to even go to the doctor. I thought I was going to die."

Career

Dash served as

's manager and business partner at

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

, and in 1999, he organized a tour for Jay-Z which made $19 million. Their relationship soured as a result of two subsequent events. The first was when Roc-A-Fella Records was purchased by

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

(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 Rocawear (Stylized Roc-A-Wear) is an American Clothing Brand founded in 1999 by Roc-A-Fella Records Co-Founders Damon Dash and Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. The brand has had annual sales of $700 million. Rocawear expanded through licensing to sell aff ...

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

DD172 DD172 is a media collective founded by American entrepreneur Damon Dash. DD172 encompasses ''America Nu'', a magazine; and VNGRD79, a web design firm. It also includes an art gallery. DD172 is named for Dash's initials and its original street addr ...

, a media collective which encompasses: ''America Nu'', a magazine; VNGRD79, a web design firm; BluRoc Records, a record label division. It also includes an art gallery.

Personal life

Dash met R&B singer Aaliyah in

in the summer of 2000 through his accountant, and dated her until her death on August 25, 2001, in a plane crash in

The Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. Though they were not formally engaged, in interviews given after Aaliyah's death, Dash stated that the couple had planned to marry. In 2005, Dash married fashion designer

Rachel Roy Rachel Irene Roy (born January 15, 1974) is an American fashion designer. Early life and education Roy was born in San Bernardino County, California, and raised in Seaside, California, as a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. She grad ...

, whom he had dated prior to his relationship with Aaliyah. They met when she was working as an intern at

. Together they have two daughters, Ava Dash (born December 7, 1999) and Tallulah Dash (born May 14, 2008). Following their divorce in 2009, they had a bitter custody battle. Dash has a son, Dame "Boogie" Dash (born November 28, 1991), with former girlfriend Linda Williams. Boogie stars in the reality television show ''

Growing Up Hip Hop ''Growing Up Hip Hop'' is the original installment of the ''Growing Up Hip Hop'' reality television franchise on WE tv. The series premiered on January 7, 2016, and chronicles the lives of the children of hip hop legends. Its success has led to th ...

''. He also has another son, Lucky, born in 2004 with Cindy Morales. Dash and his fiancée Raquel Horn have a son, Dusko Dash, born on November 14, 2020.

Legal issues

In 2012, rapper

Curren$y Shante Scott Franklin (born April 4, 1981), better known by his stage name Currensy (often stylized as Curren$y), is an American rapper. In 2011, he founded the label Jet Life Recordings. Music career 2002–2008: No Limit and Young Money ...

sued Dash for $1.5 million for releasing his music without permission. Dash's attorney released a statement that Dash released the music on fair grounds. 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. In April 2015, Dash's ex-wife, Rachel Roy, accused him of

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

and filed for a restraining order. Roy was awarded

sole custody Sole custody is a child custody arrangement whereby only one parent has custody of a child. In the most common use of the term, sole custody refers to a context in which one parent has sole physical custody of a child. Types of custody Depending ...

of their daughters. The court granted Roy and her daughters with a three-year restraining order against Dash. Days later, Dash filed a $2.5 million claim against Roy in asserted damage for allegedly mishandling their joint fashion business, Royale Etenia. In 2018, Dash settled a suit he filed against director

Lee Daniels Lee Daniels (born December 24, 1959) is an American film and television producer, director and screenwriter. His first producer credit was ''Monster's Ball'' (2001), for which Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress, making Daniels ...

requesting $5 million to recoup a $2 million investment with interest. Lee had received financial support from Dash early in his career, and reportedly failed to repay him despite his subsequent success. In November 2019, Dash was arrested for failing to pay more than $400,000 in

child support Child support (or child maintenance) is an ongoing, periodic payment made by a parent for the financial benefit of a child (or parent, caregiver, guardian) following the end of a marriage or other similar relationship. Child maintenance is paid d ...

. 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. The second warrant was issued in March 2019 in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Family Court case of Rachel Roy. He was ordered to pay her $341,991 and $25,000 for attorney fees in 2015. Dash reportedly paid more than $1 million to be released.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dash, Damon 1971 births Living people African-American businesspeople African-American record producers American cosmetics businesspeople American fashion businesspeople American hip hop record producers American music industry executives American music managers Businesspeople from New York City Nightclub owners People from Harlem People with type 1 diabetes Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people