Dame Dash Says When JAY-Z Stopped Playing “Pause” Roc-A-Fella Was Over
Former Roc-A-Fella CEO, Dame Dash
If you watch the PRITTY Left Hook podcast, you know that host Rhett Butler, a Harlem-Bronx native, says "Pause" after questionable statements. One of the leaders of the "Pause" movement and former Roc-A-Fella Records CEO, Dame Dash, recently revealed that he knew his business relationship with Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter was about to be over once Hov stopped playing "Pause."
"I knew that Roc-A-Fella was over when they stopped playing 'Pause,'" Dash said on the "My Expert Opinion podcast." "The other side was kind of like, 'nah, we don't play that no more. We grown, you know?' And I was like, 'it's over.'"
From Pause To Breakup
The other side? Dash didn't have to say JAY-Z to understand that the Brooklyn side of the Roc was not gelling anymore with the Harlem side (pause).
Dash, along with Carter and Kareem "Biggs" Burke, built Roc-A-Fella Records independently and then partnered with Def Jam to become one of the biggest record labels in history.
From JAY-Z's meteoric rise as an artist to the slew of artists from the label, Beanie Siegel, State Property, Memphis Bleek, DJ Clue, and more, they put up a resume that is arguably one of the most incredible hip-hop runs of all time.
Still R-O-C
"It gave me the life I have now," Dash continued. "It depends on what you consider the best. For me, the criteria is making a rapper a billionaire. Who got the most bread? You have to remember; I was in the crew.
"During Roc-A-Fella, I never looked at another crew and thought they were having more fun than me. I'm 52. We talking about 25 years ago. I haven't even touched Roc-A-Fella, pause, in 20 years, and they still talk about it like it was yesterday. I gotta be the best that ever did it!"
From the work Roc-A-Fella produced, both JAY-Z and Kanye West became billionaires, and JAY-Z's spinoff, Roc Nation, is responsible for the careers of stars like Rihanna, J. Cole, and many more.