Damon Dash says he’s ready to end his 20-year feud with his Roc-A-Fella records co-founder Jay-Z — after the rapper offered an “olive branch” by thanking him during his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The pair turned the music industry on its head in 1995 when they set up the business as Jay-Z struggled to find a spot on a major label. But as the “Empire State of Mind” rapper’s career exploded and the label was sold off piece by piece, their friendship collapsed into a bitter feud.
But on Saturday, Jay-Z put their differences aside and thanked Dash in his speech. “Shout out to Dame,” he said at Rocket Mortgage Field House in Cleveland, “I know we don’t see eye-to-eye, but I can never erase your accomplishments. And I appreciate you and I thank you for that.” He also thanked late rapper Biggie Smalls and said, “I appreciate you guys. Thank you for our journey. Thank you. Thank you for your contribution to this journey.”
“It was beautiful,” Dash told Page Six, admitting he was surprised to hear his one-time friend mention him. “I’m glad he said it for the culture. We need to squash everything. So hopefully if that was an extended [olive branch] I’ll spin one back.”
“I have no beef with [him] if [he has] no beef with me,” he added, “Let’s get the lawyers out of it then. Let’s talk like men, but I definitely appreciate it.”
The rivals’ latest battle has been a pair of lawsuits over Dash’s attempt to sell Rock-A-Fella’s first release — Jay-Z’s “Reasonable Doubt — as an NFT. Dash called Hova a “liar” and a “bully” amid the spat.
“I would never want you to think that we have to go to the court to resolve anything,” he added, “We can talk it out and the culture needs to see two strong black men working out a problem. Even if they worked together they can go their separate ways they can still be cool.”
He said that he’s always considered the rapper to be a brother. “We should not be divided. We have accomplished too much to be beefing… There ain’t no way I’m never gonna [not] consider [him] my brother — it’s just that we don’t see eye-to-eye.”
Dash also sounded his own note of gratitude.
“That means I’m in the Hall of Fame,” he said, “Whether we cool or not, him getting in the Hall of Fame is major. So congratulations to us, congratulations to him and thank you [to him] for keep working so hard to where he got to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Anything he can do to make me great, so thank you for even continuing to strive. He keeps my name alive.”
because he “sees” this as finally a way to be a part of Team Jay.
When Irv snitched on Drink Champ about how Dame was tryna steal BET money 