Damon Dash Biography

Damon Dash met Shawn Carter in the early 1990s, a talented rapper out of Brooklyn who went by the rapper name Jay-Z’ Seeing the lackluster response of major record labels, the duo teamed up with Kareem “Biggs” Burke to launch Roc-A-Fella Records in 1995.

Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt, released under the label and ended up selling 500,000 copies. Soon after, he managed to strike a joint-venture deal with Def Jam Records that saw more artists like DMX, Red Man and Method Man joining the team.

Not the one to waste the currency of his newfound success, Damon Dash branched out into other ventures under the Roca-A-Fella umbrella. In 1998, he launched the production company, Roc-A-Fella Films, to create urban movies and hip-hop documentaries like Backstage that further expanded his net worth.

In 1999, he and Jay-Z set up Rocawear, a hip-hop styled clothing brand that catered to the urban male. By 2000, Rocawear had crossed $100 million in sales, thus putting the brand in direct competition with the likes of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

He ended his involvement with the Roca-A-Fella empire after he sold his stakes in Rocawear in August 2005. He then put his energy into managing all his other business ventures, which at the time included Dash-DiBella Promotions, Tiret New York, Pro Keds, Armadale Vodka etc.

He also founded a media collective, DD172, which encompassed a magazine (America Nu), record label (BluRoc Records), a web design company (VNGRD79) and an art gallery.

Given his brash and outspoken nature, Damon Dash has courted controversies throughout his life. His rift with Jay-Z over Roc-A-Fella Records and later with regards to Rocawear is well documented.

In 2008, foreclosure proceedings had begun on two of his Manhattan properties on grounds that he and his wife together owed roughly $7.3 million on the two homes alone. It got worse in 2012 when rapper Curren$y sued him to the tune of $1.5 million for allegedly releasing the rapper’s music without permission.

In 2009, he was ordered by the court to pay $500,000 to the mother of his son Boogie. His ex-wife, Rachel Roy, had a restraining order taken out against him for domestic abuse in 2015, which the court upheld.

In 2019, he was arrested, when appearing for an unrelated case at the New York City Federal Court, for failing to pay more than $400,000 in child support money to two different claimants. It is said that Damon Dash had to pay close to $1 million to secure his release.

Damon Dash was born on 3 May 1971, in New York City. He lost his mother at the age of 15. As a teenager, he sold newspapers and swept the local Harlem barbershop floors to buy clothing and sneakers; learned to “hustle” from a young age, as he likes to put it.

He dated the R&B singer, Aaliyah, whom he met in 2000. The two were a couple until Aaliyah’s untimely demise in 2001. He married Rachel Roy, a fashion designer, in 2005 and together the couple have two daughters, Ava and Tallulah. They separated after an ugly divorce and custody battle in 2009.

Outside the marriage, Damon Dash has two sons, Dame “Boogie” Dash (born in 1991) with Linda Williams, and Lucky who was born in 2005 with Cindy Morales.