The history of Roc-A-Fella is a long and complicated one, and it hasn't gotten any easier to navigate as the years draw on. However, we have seen multiple of its key members- whether executives or artists- reflect on some alleged misconceptions on its downfall. That's not where Dame Dash began his recent breakdown of it, though: he started off on a new episode of The CEO Show by talking about Roc member Memphis Bleek's career. It started off as an assessment of the rapper's relevance today, then went into the gossip around all the members' fallings-out, and then moved to the executive's claim that he "saved" Bleek from robbery.
"No disrespect to Bleek," Dame Dash began his statement. "But I don’t feel like he would not want to still be making current records and making a lot of money doing new records. You know, I didn’t want him to be– no disrespect, but no one wants to be on the 'Oldies but Goodies Tour.' You want to be known for new s**t." Then, he started to push back on Memphis Bleek's explanation of how the Roc fell.
Read More: Dame Dash "Broke" But "Proud," Roc-A-Fella Co-Founder Says He's Been "Losing Money For Years"
Dame Dash Addresses Memphis Bleek's Tale Of The Roc's Downfall: Watch
"The misconception about Roc-A-Fella is they kicked me out; I left,” Dame Dash claimed. “When 'Change Clothes' came out, I had already had an office at Rocawear. I was already done, I didn’t wanna run Roc-A-Fella no more, I still don’t wanna run a music [company]. I had retired from Roc-A-Fella long before this so called split." Furthermore, he used Memphis Bleek as an example of him pushing the Roc's affiliates to take care of themselves, not their higher-ups.
"People close to him were taking his publishing,” he went on. “When he was signing his record deal, someone had his– he was signed to a production deal. And, I’m not going to say nobody’s name. I’ll let them deal with that. He talks about it. All his publishing was getting taken. They were getting a piece of his royalty. He was getting robbed. So, I went and got him a lawyer. I went and got him a real accountant and it really caused a lot of friction internally." For more news and the latest updates on Dame Dash and Memphis Bleek, come back to HNHH.