Damon Dash Launches New Label, Rap Rock Group

Former Roc-A-Fella mogul Damon Dash is reportedly back in the music game, launching a new independent record label, in order to release a rap/rock project featuring Ludacris, Jim Jones, Mos Def, Q-Tip and many other respected MC's.

The album, which will be a collaboration with indie rock band The Black Keys, was inspired by Dash's assistants, who were fans of the band.

"My assistants, who are now actually A&Rs, were going to a Black Keys concert for their birthday and I wasn't invited," Dash told XXL. "Usually on their birthdays we all do it together and the reason why I wasn't invited was because the concert was sold out . And I had never heard of The Black Keys and I was like y'all still gonna go without me. And they was like 'Yo it's The Black Keys." So I was like, lemme hear this group. So I start listening to them and they actually became my favorite group. They were on heavy rotation so we just reached out and we kicked it with them and I was like, 'I wonder what would happen if we got Jim Jones and the Keys in the studio' and Jim came in and all of a sudden Mos came in and then [it] just built from there."

The album is aptly titled 'Blak Roc' and will also feature Raekwon, Ol' Dirty Bastard, RZA, Pharoahe Monch and Billy Danze of M.O.P.

"We had a good rapport with one another," Dash continued, explaining the unlikely pairing. "And I like the way they do their business and they kind of like the way I do mine and it just turned into this project."

The album is scheduled for a Nov. 27 release, which is the day after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday.

A bluesy sounding song from the project called 'Hoochie Coo,' featuring Mos Def and Jim Jones over instrumentation by The Black Keys can be heard here and snippets from the album can be further sampled here.