Just a few years ago, Dame Dash would take issue with any interviewer asking him any questions related to his former business partner, JAŸ-Z. But now, it seems like Dame doesn’t mind touching on the topic so long as he can disparage his fellow co-founder of the once mighty Roc-A-Fella Records.
Days after the New York Times crowned JAŸ-Z as one of the 30 Greatest Living American Song Writers (he is), Dame Dash belittled JAŸ-Z’s classic debut album, Reasonable Doubt, suggesting that “no one cares” about it as it wasn’t the commercial hit that it should’ve been during Hip-Hop’s golden era.
In a recent interview on The Art of The Dialogue, Dame Dash was asked whose catalogue was better between Kanye West and JAŸ-Z and without hesitation Dame went on a small rant saying, “Kanye destroys Jay… it’s not even the same class. As far as artistry goes and being creative, and all the verticals that are stimulated, and the people – no one want to dress… like Jay, can’t do a clothing line. Kanye has a movement. He’s unstoppable.”
Seemingly unfazed by Kanye’s forte into Nazism and other weird behavior, Dame Dash continued to pile on saying that “Kanye don’t need nobody to fill an arena, you know homeboy [Jay] needs friends.” Referring to Kanye as an artist in the same vein as Vincent Van Gogh, Dame likened JAŸ-Z to a “cunning” man who “doesn’t mind playing with the devil.”
As if that wasn’t enough, Dame went on to downplay the value of Jay’s first album, Reasonable Doubt, saying, “Reasonable Doubt doesn’t sell sh*t. Why do you think I gave it away? Nobody made no money off that, sh*t barely went gold. Nobody gives a f*ck about Reasonable Doubt other than the people that were there.”
Going on to suggest that JAŸ-Z isn’t relevant to the youth in 2026, Dame stated, “Ask some kid about Reasonable Doubt they’ll be like ‘nobody cares about Jay-Z as a rapper.’ No kid gives a f*ck about Jay-Z.”
We don’t know man. He’s not wrong as far as this generation of Hip-Hoppers overlooking Hova’s historic run in the Hip-Hop game while Kanye West continues to maintain relevance amongst them. But it does seem like a lot of sour grapes to us coming from a man who many feel JAŸ-Z left out in the cold on his road to billions. Just sayin’.
Check out the clip and let us know your thoughts on Dame Dash’s comments on JAŸ-Z’s Reasonable Doubt and his overall take on Jay’s significance in Hip-Hop today in the comments section below.
