Dame Dash On Aaliyah's Relationship With R. Kelly: "I Had To Look The Other Way"

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Damon Dash attends the National Film and Television Awards Ceremony at Globe Theatre on December 05, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.
Dame Dash recalls Aaliyah being hesitant to speak on her relationship with R. Kelly.

Dream Hampton's docuseries on R. Kelly has received a lot of attention over the past few days. Surviving R. Kelly even sparked a criminal investigation the singer. Several victims spoke out against their experiences with R. Kelly, but the producer admitted several of the singer's former collaborators didn't want to speak on camera including Jay-Z. Dame Dash, on the other hand, hasn't been as silent. The music mogul revealed why he, and many others in the music industry, kept silent during R. Kelly's relationship with an underage Aaliyah.

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Nick Cannon recently shared a clip from his #CannonsClass podcast with Dame Dash. Cannon began to inquire about Dame Dash and Roc-A-Fella's relationship with R. Kelly back in the day. Jay-Z and R. Kelly collaborated on two joint albums and went on a subsequent co-headlining tour together to support their 2004 collab album. Dash recalled a conversation he had with Aaliyah where he inquired about her relationship with R. Kelly to which she told him to "leave it alone."

"I remember having a conversation with Aaliyah and I was like, 'Yo, tell me what happened.' And she just couldn't and I just left it at that. And she said, 'leave it alone,'" he said. "So, what you think I felt? I'm human, bro. But I had to look the other way. All these years. So publicly, that man did a record -- that n***a done raped my girl, that he liked as well, right? You understand what I'm saying? But, no one said nothing."

The full episode is set to drop soon. Keep your eyes peeled for that.


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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