Damon Anthony Dash (born May 3, 1971) is an American entrepreneur and record executive. He co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

and Kareem Burke in 1994, and co-founded the fashion retailer Rocawear with the former in 1999.

Early life

Born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Dash swept the floors of a local barbershop and sold newspapers in order to buy sneakers and shirts as a teenager. Dash "learned to hustle", in his own words, from the example of his mother, who died of an

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

attack when he was 15. The same year, Dash was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. "Before I was diagnosed... I went about a month or two just going to the bathroom non-stop and losing weight", Dash recalled. " Magic Johnson had just been diagnosed with

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, so that's what I thought I had. I was scared to even go to the doctor. I thought I was going to die."

Career

Dash served as

's manager and business partner at Roc-A-Fella Records, and in 1999, he organized a tour for Jay-Z which made $19 million. Their relationship soured as a result of two subsequent events. The first was when Roc-A-Fella Records was purchased by Def Jam Recordings (which had previously only owned half of the company) in 2004, after which Jay-Z agreed to take a job as Def Jam's president. Then, in late 2005, Jay-Z bought Dash out of his stake in Rocawear. In April 2014, it was announced that Dash is involved with Blind Debit, a fingerprint payment application being developed by Dez White. Dash founded DD172, a media collective which encompasses: ''America Nu'', a magazine; VNGRD79, a web design firm; BluRoc Records, a record label division. It also includes an art gallery.

Personal life

Dash met R&B singer

Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...

in the summer of 2000 through his accountant, and dated her until her death on August 25, 2001, in a plane crash in

The Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

. Though they were not formally engaged, in interviews given after Aaliyah's death, Dash stated that the couple had planned to marry. In 2005, Dash married fashion designer Rachel Roy, whom he had dated prior to his relationship with Aaliyah. They met when she was working as an intern at Rocawear. Together they have two daughters, Ava Dash (born December 7, 1999) and Tallulah Dash (born May 14, 2008). Following their divorce in 2009, they had a bitter custody battle. Dash has a son, Dame "Boogie" Dash (born November 28, 1991), with former girlfriend Linda Williams. Boogie stars in the reality television show '' Growing Up Hip Hop''. He also has another son, Lucky, born in 2004 with Cindy Morales. Dash and his fiancée Raquel Horn have a son, Dusko Dash, born on November 14, 2020. Dash is a first cousin of the actress Stacey Dash.

Legal issues

In 2012, rapper Curren$y sued Dash for $1.5 million for releasing his music without permission. Dash's attorney released a statement that Dash released the music on fair grounds. In 2014, Dash was ordered to pay Linda Williams, the mother of his son Boogie, $50,000 for causing her to be prosecuted on harassment charges in 2009. In April 2015, Dash's ex-wife, Rachel Roy, accused him of domestic abuse and filed for a restraining order. Roy was awarded sole custody of their daughters. The court granted Roy and her daughters with a three-year restraining order against Dash. Days later, Dash filed a $2.5 million claim against Roy in asserted damage for allegedly mishandling their joint fashion business, Royale Etenia. In 2018, Dash settled a suit he filed against director Lee Daniels requesting $5 million to recoup a $2 million investment with interest. Lee had received financial support from Dash early in his career, and reportedly failed to repay him despite his subsequent success. In November 2019, Dash was arrested for failing to pay more than $400,000 in child support. Dash was in New York City for an unrelated Federal Court appearance when he was arrested for two warrants. The first warrant was issued in April 2015 in the Supreme Court in New York County case of Cindy Morales; he owed $62,553 since 2012. The second warrant was issued in March 2019 in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

Family Court case of Rachel Roy. He was ordered to pay her $341,991 and $25,000 for attorney fees in 2015. Dash reportedly paid more than $1 million to be released.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dash, Damon 1971 births Living people 21st-century African-American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople African-American record producers American cosmetics businesspeople American businesspeople in fashion American hip-hop record producers American music industry executives American music managers Businesspeople from New York City Dwight School alumni Nightclub owners People from Harlem People with type 1 diabetes Record producers from New York (state) 20th-century African-American people