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Dame Dash has hit out at JAY-Z after the auction of his shares in Roc-A-Fella failed to generate the sum he was hoping for.
Speaking on his America Nu Network, a dejected Dash shared his thoughts after his one-third ownership in the company was bought by New York State for just $1 million.
Using the somewhat underwhelming outcome of the much-publicized auction to downplay the popularity of his former business partner, the mogul said: “What this really taught me was that, in the world, homie isn’t as big as he portrays.”
He added: “I thought more people would be interested in buying it […] I thought people would at least show up. No one even showed up! […] Jay didn’t even make a bid. He didn’t think it was worth $3 million. A billionaire, supposedly.”
Dash also claimed that Drake was at one point interested in purchasing his shares and made a sizeable offer, but backed out without an explanation.
“Drake did put a bid in for $6 million, but then he disappeared. I don’t know what happened,” he said. “But other than that, no one was serious. No one wanted that shit, period.”
The public auction was to settle Dame Dash’s extensive debts that total almost $10 million.
The Roc-A-Fella co-founder allegedly owes $8.7 million to the State of New York in back taxes, as well as $145,000 to New York City’s Department of Social Services in unpaid child support.
Dash additionally owes $823,000 to filmmaker Josh Webber, who successfully sued him for copyright infringement and defamation over the 2019 movie Dear Frank.
His Roc-A-Fella shares were bought by an anonymous state government employee, with plans to sell it on for a higher sum and put the proceeds towards Dash’s debts.
The deal centers on Dash’s stake in Roc-A-Fella Inc., whose sole asset is JAY-Z’s seminal debut album Reasonable Doubt — not Roc-A-Fella LLC, which houses the rest of the label’s catalog.
Dame previously accused Hov of trying to “poison” the auction by claiming that the rights to Reasonable Doubt revert back to him in the year 2031 due to copyright law’s termination right, which applies to pieces of work over 35 years old.
Lawyers for New York State, however, argued that the copyrights will continue to be held by Roc-A-Fella Inc. until 2098 while also accusing the label of not providing proof of royalties that the album generates.
A judge refused to settle the matter prior to the auction, saying he had no legal power to rule on disputes over copyright law.
