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Damon Dash Blames Downfall on Being 'Too Nice'

Posted Mar 27th 2009 6:30PM by Latifah Muhammad
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Former hip-hop mogul Damon Dash has had his fare share of personal and professional missteps since breaking ties with longtime business partner and friend Jay-Z and is speaking out on the root of his troubles. In a recent interview, Dash, attributed his kind heart to why his career hasn't flourished as well as others around him. "My mistake was watching everyone else's careers and not watching mine," he said.

The 37-year-old father of three is noted as one of the founders of Roc-a-Fella Records and the Rocawear clothing line. Dash later sold his share of both companies and set off to promote other business ventures, including a failed collaboration with the Pro Keds shoe company.

"It was like, either you are on his side or on mine," he said, of his former friendship with Jay-Z, which at one point caused members of his company to take side. "And because of all that, there's resistance on every level with me and the s--- just bugs me out."

Although Dash did bounce back financially by selling a portion of his wife's (who recently filed for divorce) clothing line to Jones New York, last August news broke that Dash's New York loft was in foreclosure. According to the lawsuit, Dash and his wife owed $7.8 million on the home.

Dash's former attorney Combat Jack however feels that his current problems are a direct result of bad things he's done to people in the past. "I've seen him humiliate and disgrace so many people, throw so many souls under the proverbial bus that even then, I knew that the s--- he's publicly suffering through now was coming, inevitable, only a matter of time," Jack wrote in a recent blog entry. "Damon Dash could come back and land on top again. He's brilliant like that, and being an a--hole is his strongest suit. But before that time comes, there's a whole [lot of] hell for him to pay."

Despite his troubles, Dash is still working in the music business. "After being able to settle my wife's company, I was able to start doing other things. My first approach was the music business and getting with Jim Jones. At first I wanted to help him because I've known him since he was young and me listening to the album and thinking it was really good. I thought it deserved to be heard outside of the urban market. So I spent the last six months doing research, trying to figure out how to use all my resources to blow this out."

Dash lead the promotional campaign behind Jones's recent release, which included an off-Broadway play, documentary, and other business ventures for Jones.

Jim Jones fourth album 'Pray IV Reign' was released March 24, and features the hits 'Pop Champagne' and 'Na Na Nana Na Na.'