Jay Z (right) has stepped up to protect co-founder Damon Dash’s one-third ownership in Roc-A-Fella Records.
A judge recently ordered Dash to sell his shares in Roc-A-Fella Records to satisfy a lawsuit judgment.
According to AllHipHop, Dash owes $823,000 to film producer Josh Webber and Muddy Waters Pictures after losing a lawsuit.
Webber and the film company sued Dash in 2022 for copyright infringement for attempting to sell their independent 2016 film, Dear Frank.
A jury sided with Webber and Muddy Waters Pictures in 2022. A judge awarded them $805,000.
To satisfy the judgment, Webber and his legal team asked the judge to require Dash to sell off his one-third ownership in Roc-A-Fella Records.
However, Jay Z and and co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke (left) stepped in to stop the sale.
According to AllHipHop, the label’s co-founders noted that their company bylaws require total board approval before any major sale of company stock.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger scoffed at the bylaws argument.
Lehrburger pointed out that Dash wasn’t even present during a 2021 board meeting when the vote was held.
“The question at the core of the instant dispute is whether the RAF (Roc-A-Fella) bylaws’ prohibition on transfer and sale of Dash’s one-third ownership … legally prevents the sale of Dash’s interest in RAF to satisfy the Judgment,” Leherburger wrote. “The answer indisputably is no.”
The judge then ordered Roc-A-Fella’s co-founders (Jay Z, Dash, and Burke) to deliver Dash’s stock certification to the U.S. Marshal’s Service within 180 days.
Jay Z and Burke still have the opportunity to purchase the shares themselves, meaning they will both retain complete ownership.
Roc-A-Fella Records was founded by Dash, Burke and Jay Z in 1994 under the Def Jam Recordings umbrella.
The label’s acts included Kanye West, Cam’ron, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Juelz Santana, Freeway, Jadakiss, Teairra Marí, and more.
Jay Z and Dash eventually fell out and the label folded in 2013.
But in a 2021 interview, Dash (left) claimed Jay Z’s dispute was with Burke (right).
“The reason Roc-A-Fella Records broke up in the first place was ’cause [Jay Z] didn’t want to break bread with Biggs no more,” Dash said at the time.
“I was like, ‘Yo, we could start something different,’ but I can’t do that to Biggs. He didn’t want Biggs to be a part of it anymore. That’s what happened. They weren’t speaking for like two years and no one knew, though. I don’t know why they would want to devalue my third – I don’t get it.”
