Damon Dash in line to succeed Jay Z

Photo: FilmMagic/Getty

I've been telling my readers for months that former Roc-A-Fella founder Damon Dash would be named president of Def Jam once Jay Z's contract expired. It just makes sense, doesn't it? Damon Dash made Jay Z and taught him everything he knows about the business. Without Dame there would be no Jay Z.

Jay Z repaid Dash's loyalty by orchestrating a hostile takeover of Rocafella and abandoning his former mentor. But if Dash felt the industry had turned its back on him - all of that is about to change. Dash's name is at the forefront of names to succeed Jay Z as president of Def Jam, including Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond, Damon Dash, Chuck D and Jermaine Dupri.

A recent lawsuit filed against Dash is being seen as a last ditch attempt to thwart Dash's chances of getting the top job. A lawsuit filed by Jamie Roberts, of Atlanta, alleges Damon Dash exposed his genitals to her three years ago resulting in an acute case of schizoprenia that has developed into active psychosis.


Acute schizophrenia occurs when an otherwise healthy adult demonstrates increasingly bizarre behaviour (hearing voices) as the result of a traumatic event.

Friends of Dash are speculating that the woman was paid off by someone in Jay Z's camp to make the allegations against Dash in hopes of tarnishing his image and ruining his chances of being named his successor. It would be a blow to Jay Z's fragile ego to have Dame replace him as president of Def Jam.

Dash insists he has never even met his 24-year-old accuser which makes the timing of the lawsuit even more suspicious.

Last year the tension between the two men escalated when Jay Z dropped this verse in his song "Lost Ones": 'Motherf***ers said that they made Hov/ Made Hov, Ok then, make another Hov.' But Dame responded to the slight with style and grace:

'If he was talking about me, I'd be disappointed,' said Dash. 'He could've just tooken me aside and told me. That's what grown men do. Me and Jay made history, there's no need for beef.'

  • NoirFemme

    I hope he does get the job. I've felt so sorry for his wife, whose line has been failing financially, but has garnered a lot of critical acclaim. Perhaps Def Jam money will keep her talent afloat.

  • http://dapoandtomi.com dapo

    FINALLY! This only makes sense. Dame Dash was the mastermind behind Rocafella.

    Jay-Z is just a rapper...a good one...but just that. When he walks into a room full of business execs, they call him "rapper" before anything else.

    Jay as president of Def Jam doesn't help the company...but...DAME as Prez is definitely the way to go.

    Dame is an entrepreneur at heart. He found Diplomats, he found Kanye West, he found Jay-Z. It's only right.

  • http://www.myspace.com/birdshu Bird

    I would be shocked beyond belief if this happened. Lyor Cohen himself fought for years to get Jay away from Dame because of Dame's unprofessional way of doing business. He brings the ghetto to the boardroom and white folks don't respond well to that. I'm hoping Jermaine gets the job. As for Dame, I'm hoping him and Jay get back together and create another powerful label or clothing line. I wouldn't mind if they took Roc-A-Wear and Roc-A-Fella down since they don't own it anymore. Dame needs Jay. He's not respected alone.

  • http://www.myspace.com/millyly milly

    @Bird I couldnt have said it better and whats sad is Dame's ego wont let him do that.

  • c murda

    It'll never happen....

  • http://www.myspace.com/bettathaniwasb4 2bme

    Dame said he was done with the business but i truly believe that was his way of saving face because of all the alliances Jay made that put him out in the cold. dame is an arrogant SOB but he does get the job done, he may not be liked but he will force the respect. I don't see dame getting this because without jay he only had minimal success..both jay and Dame need each other musically and they both know it. It's the same w/Snoop and Dre..one with the other and you'll get subpar work...yes I know Dame is not a producer but you understand what i'm saying

  • MUNCHOSGIRL

    IS THIS AFTER HE GETS UNCLE SAM OFF OF HIS BACK? DAME CAN'T HANDLE HIS OWN BUSINESS, WHY WOULD DEF JAM WANT HIM TO RUN THIERS? WHAT HAS DAME DONE BUSINES WISE SINCE HE AND JAY SPLIT? HE DIDN'T FIND JAY FOR THE POSTER WHO TYPED THAT. JAY WAS INTRODUCED TO HIM, KNOW YOUR BUSINESS WHEN TRYING TO WIN AN ARGUMENT. OH YEAH SANDRA, ARE YOU GOING TO DO A POST ON THE LAS VEGAS OPENING, THERE ARE SOME PICTURES OVER AT GETTY IMAGES. TOLD YOU SOMEONE LIED TO PEREZ!

  • http://notenoughrealmen.blogspot.com 2thick4u

    This is funny. His ass will run through their budget quicker than his wife ran through his with that lame ass clothing line.

    Whatever...If he is they really are desperate!!!

  • Black Bauer

    Sandra, you are soooo right! Jay Z hasnt been able to do anything without Dame. Everytime I look up, he's come up with another hair-brained scheme to make millions. 40/40 clubs, hotels, cutting edge clothing lines (artful dodger). What Dame is doing is whats really hot, like.......like......(crickets)....oh yeah, NOT PAYING HIS TAXES! I guess you didnt hear that rumor that Jay paid Dame's Federal tax bill. The dummy still owes 2 mill to the state of NY, and thats public record, check the front page of the Daily News. Dame will be the President of DefJam the same day that Al Sharpton is in the White House.

  • ms.peaches

    I agree with Bird as always, however when alot of folks say Dame started Rocafella not by himself he didn't lets not forget Jay & Biggs the other 2 I believe they were all considered CEO's Dame does have a big mouth & alot of people thinks he's an asshole so I really don't see this happening & if he supposedly taught Jay everthing & was his mentor then Dame should have had the job first. Don't get me wrong I really wish these 2 would hug & make up or whatever they do they built a dynasty together!! but I guess you do growup & want different things in life!!

  • lea83

    Im still trippin ova this womans law suit against Dame Dash for exposing her gentials. His genitals cause her to have psychosis? It must be real ugly down there!!

  • MUNCHOSGIRL

    APPLAUSE FOR BLACK BAUER! HE OWES MILLIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT AND YET SOMEONE ACTUALLY THINKS A COMPANY WILL DEPEND ON HIS JUDGEMENT. WHAT HAS HE REALLY DONE SINCE THE SPLIT?

  • Bsoul

    "Dame will be the President of DefJam the same day that Al Sharpton is in the White House".

    What, Al isn't running again this year?

    LOL!

  • licia

    well whomever gets the job i hope they actually DO THE JOB and do it right . jay is a good artist , but i fail to see what he brought to the table to benefit the other artists. he somehow found ways to line his own pockets and i can't knock his hustle on that but he didn't seem to do anything for the other artists .

  • ms.peaches

    I noticed everybody that Jay brought to DefJam he was on all there remixes, singles etc.. He had a lot of artist come in under his wing Rhianna, Jeezy, Rick Ross, (I think) anyway I think he did a lot for DefJam you have to look at the time he was given to do this yes he is a rapper before he is an executive but he tried what I want to know is who the hell is running ish over there do they need to call Russell back in the office!!

  • tonidanielle

    I guess Dame will then make enough money to pay his taxes. I dont see this happening at all. He couldnt maintain his own record company remember The Same Dash Music Group? Oh yeah he never released anything at all!!! Dame needs Jay like Free needed A.Jay

    We all know why Sandra posted this B/S she's anti-Beyonce and with that comes being Anti-Jay she posted a story about 40/40 in Vegas not opening and Opps it opened last weekend I guess this is why its just Gossip. Sandra if you ever want to get to Perez level you first need to coping /pasting things from MediaFakeout!!!

  • tonidanielle

    Don't forget that Jay brought Ne*Yo, Rhianna, Kanye, Jeezy, Fabolous, Chrisette Michelle, Nas and others to Def Jam, Dej Jam got more Grammy Noms this year than any other record company.

    Sorry I dont see that happening with Dame.Jermaine never had that type of success with SO SO DEF and will definetly not have it with his washed up girlfriend. Opp's did I say washed up I didn't mean that but Janet had her run. And may need to bow out gracefully before the new Generation run over her ( Ciara, Beyonce, Rhianna) no harm intended I was just saying.

    Good Luck Def Jam if you bring Dame aboard!! Good Luck Dame who will always live in Jay's shadow.

  • MUNCHOSGIRL

    TYPO DANIELLE, IT WAS LAST NIGHT NOT LAST WEEKEND WHEN THE LAS VEGAS 40/40 OPENED.

  • CANT TAKE IT NO MORE

    Bsoul Says:

    “Dame will be the President of DefJam the same day that Al Sharpton is in the White House”.

    EXACTLY

  • Che

    In 5 years from now music is going to be released for free. The money that need to be made is going to be made on merchandising, touring and other extra curricula al deriving from the existence as an artist. Life cycle of an artist is going to be shorter. Churn rate of an artist is going to be highter because of instant global recognizion of an hit/artist. This new way of doing business requires a different mind set. Record companies are not going to be making that much money from music so they need to find new revenue streams. Is Dame up for it? Don't know but if you look at his track record he did a pretty descent job.I consider him a serial entrepeneur and of course he made some decisions who turned out to be not the best but that's the part of doing business. It is normal to get burned some time in your career.

    Now, you are as good as your team so if he hires good capable people surrounding him, he sure is a good bet.

  • spraggaswifey

    "I heard mu***rf*****'s sayin they made Hov made Hov say ok so make another Hov."...people give dame to much credit..don't get me wrong, dame did his thing but what SANDRA fails to acknowledge is jay had been trying to get DAME to straighten up his act because they had a plan from the gate...DAME was wylinn and was not stepping up and acting like a mature business man...jay did not just leave DAME for dead...DAME made his choice...what was jay supossed to do?..party all of his money away like some teenager just starting in the business and never advancing?..@Black Bauer ---you are right...LYOR TRIED FOR EVER to get jay to leave DAME but jay WOULD NOT DO IT AT FIRST...and LYOR was not the only 1 tryin to get jay to do that..@icia --falied to see what jay bought to the table?please see tonidanielle and re-read some of the other posts...i said i was going to not comment on anymore jay z stories but SANDRA hates JAY and her comments are not based on facts because if they were she wouldn't have printed those lies....SANDRA this is 2008 mamaz and you need to be hata free....i know DAME is looking at jay's paper and success and thinking and knowing that could have been him right along side jay...

  • aqtpie

    Nobody in Jay's camp paid this nut any money to try and further tarnish Dame's reputation. I'm with Jay's lyrics I heard muthaff**kers sayin’ they made Hov… Made Hov say ‘OK, so, make another Hov’… In loose terms "If Dame made Jay? If he was this great business man, why hasn't he made anyone else? Hell why hasn't he done anything else that remains to be not greater but, at least equally successful to what they had? Jay has, it makes me wonder who really was the business man amongst the two, Jay left and he still succeeded. It would be great to seem them working together again though.

  • NC_NYer

    I heard someone say, "Don’t forget that Jay brought Ne*Yo, Rhianna, Kanye, Jeezy, Fabolous, Chrisette Michelle, Nas and others to Def Jam, Dej Jam got more Grammy Noms this year than any other record company."

    Jay didn't "bring" Kanye, Jeezy or Chrisette Michelle. Kanye was already selling records (did you forget The College Dropout?) and everybody & their mama likes Jeezy. Nas, The Roots and Fab were "traded" onto the team just as DMX and Musiq were "traded" away - and do you REALLY think those were Jay's decisions?? Uhh...NO.

    For all of you with short attention spans, Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Teairra Mari (yeah, Google her - "Princess of the Roc" - LOL) all came out at the same time, and Jay (as the new "president" of Def Jam) was used as the "face" to push these artists.

    And while I would support the idea of Dame hooking Kanye up with the Roc in the first place - I can not would NEVER want to see Dame Dash as the new president of Def Jam. Dame is/was a great entrepreneur, but dude's time has passed. Been there, done that, keep it moving.

    Jermaine Dupri? Nope, don't see that. Sandra, even you know no one even in ATL respects him...not really. Outside of the kiddie rappers (and that was cool in its time), only thing JD's hooked up big time was JE (*sigh*), Dem Franchize Boyz (ok), maybe a couple of others....but no...

    Jimmy "Henchman" - MAN....HELL NAW.....maybe Koch...but NOT DEF JAM...LOL, HELL NAW....LMAO

    Chuck D?? Dude is a legend - I have respect for him...pioneer...but no.