As an estranged founder of Roc-A-Fella who was instrumental to its rise, Dame Dash has a lot to reflect on and spill beans about when it comes to that era. Not everything he says is accepted as true by his other colleagues, but it's unlikely that debate will ever die down. Moreover, the executive recently recalled how Jay-Z didn't want to sign Kanye West to the Roc, and how he had to fight for his place in their roster of MCs. Overall, this isn't particularly new information, although he doubled down on how hard he had to fight to combat their reluctance.
"I almost couldn’t sign Kanye, I had to get a vote," Dame Dash expressed recently during an Instagram Live session. "I had to fight to put Kanye out, I had to fight Lyor [Cohen] and Jay-Z. They didn’t want that man to come out. So the point was, I was like, ‘Yo, I’m not gonna be in a place where I gotta fight to put that man out.' The same way I had to fight to put Jay out, fight to put Rachel Roy out, fight to put Cam out. Everything that I’ve ever had to put out has been against nerds telling me not to put it out."
Dame Dash Claims Responsibility For Making Jay-Z Sign Kanye West: Watch
Meanwhile, this is what Jay-Z had to say about this debate in a 2009 interview with XXL. "Let’s first clear this thing about Dame and Kanye and all of us," he began his version of the story. "We all had a conversation about Kanye and whether to sign him. No one knew what would become of Kanye. Not Dame, not me not Biggs.
“So we all sat down and said, ‘Let’s at least sign so we can keep the tracks in-house,'" Hov continued. "'It’s only good business.' And Dame said, ‘We can put Beans and Cam, surround him and make this type of album.’ I wasn’t saying don’t sign Kanye. I was saying, at least keep the beats in-house, if anything." For more news and the latest updates on Dame Dash, Jay-Z, and Kanye West, check back in with HNHH.