Ya Heard: Dame Dash adds debt, divorce to cumbling empire

"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of its filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and trebles that want another way. That was a true proverb of the wise man, rely upon it; 'Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith.'"

Things continue to get worse for former Roc-A-Fella Records CEO Damon Dash. His wife, fashion designer Rachel Roy, recently filed divorce papers after just four years of marriage. The couple has two daughters.

The highly successful Roy worked for Dash's former clothing line, Rocawear, before he sold his interest and Roy began her own line. The divorce comes at a horrible time for Dash, who is deep in debt with a number of creditors, including the IRS. Dash founded Roc-A-Fella Records with hip-hop icon Jay Z and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. However, in early 2004 things took a sour turn, when Jay split business ties.

In a 2005 interview with XXL magazine, Jay Z said he was ready to leave Roc-A-Fella to build a new company. "Since I was the one that wanted to leave, I was like, let me try to figure out some way where everyone can be happy. So I said, let me have 'Reasonable Doubt' (Jay Z's debut album)…it's very little money, but it meant everything to me because it was my baby. ... And it was also more of a principle thing: Just give me something, something to walk. Something to hold on to. I don't wanna walk away from Roc-A-Fella Records -- if you can imagine that -- with nothing ... So I was like, let me get 'Reasonable Doubt' and I'll give up [the rest of] my masters. I'll give up Roc-A-Fella, I'll give up presi-dent and CEO of Def Jam Records -- everything. Just give me my baby to hold on to so 10 years down the line, I can look back and I got something -- I'm not empty-handed. ... I thought it was more than fair ... And when that was turned down, I had to make a choice."

That choice came when Dame Dash, Jay Z and Burke sold their ownership stakes in Roc-a-Fella Records to its parent label, Def Jam Records. Jay was then handed Roc-a-fella and all its masters on a silver plate. Shrewd, shrewd business.

After that, Dame Dash watched his empire crumble. In recent years Dash has experienced fore-closure on two of his Tribeca condos, a truck repossession and a call from the IRS concerning back taxes.

When asked in the 2005 interview if unhappiness was why he departed Jay said, "I just wanna say we outgrew the situation. We all bosses. And as all bosses, we like different things. And it's nothing wrong with that. Everyone's doing wonderful, great. No one's kicked out on the streets. No one's starving, you know what I'm saying?"

It may be time for Jay to rethink that comment.

MONEY, BLOOD DON'T MIX

In another interesting case of money-changing situations, T-Pain's father, Shaheed Najm, came out with some very choice words for R&B superstar Akon.

T-Pain is signed to Akon's Konvict Music label and now his father is beginning to air the dirty laundry. Najm is claiming that Akon used lies to break up his family.

In an interview with Ozone Magazine, Najm said Akon fed lies to his son. "Unknown to me, they were having different discussions behind the scenes," Najm said. "Akon had my son signing papers without contacting me, knowing that I'm his manager."

In 2005, following a split between the father and son, T-Pain claimed his father attempted to charge him $250,000 to get out of their business relationship; a charge the elder Pain says is completely false.

"I never tried to blackmail him for $250.000. That's a lie," he said. "I've never asked him for $250,000 to pay my bills. I asked him to give me and his mother one show per month and let us split the proceeds. At the time he was only making $20,000 a show. ... He was doing a whole bunch of shows. That's nothing big to ask for. ... And I really don't appreciate being lied on. I've heard all kinds of stuff, but when you challenge me as a man and as a father, I hate that with a passion."

According to the column, Najm still loves his son and has decided to keep their personal and business lives separate. However, as far as Akon goes, he had some things to say that are way too explicit for this column…'Til next week, Peace!!!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.