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Damon Dash has seen the heights of the entertainment business, and the lows that can come with running multiple businesses.
However, through it all, the serial entrepreneur is unwavering in his business beliefs.
Being in control of his assets is a business philosophy Dash has been very vocal about for almost two decades now. The mogul has consolidated his interests and will operate out of Albemarle, North Carolina.
That is where he has opened another art gallery. Dash is also working on an upcoming book titled “Culture Vultures,” based off of a term he helped popularize earlier this year in a public debate over business practices and ownership in the music industry.
“I have devoted my life to providing an authentic experience to pop culture without compromise,” Damon Dash explained. “Now my music, movies, documentaries and self-help training videos and books will be aggregated at a single, easy to access distribution point.”
Damon Dash’s new website DameDashStudios.com will be the single distribution point for all of his projects moving forward. Beginning on September 1, the many projects Damon Dash has directed or produced will be available on demand.
For $9.99 a month, subscribers will be able to view films like the Kanye West produced flicks “Loisaidas” starring Murda Mook and “Too Honorable” featuring Stacy Dash and Cam’ron. Other content Dash has produced over the years will be made available for instant viewing as well.
Damon Dash’s staunch, independent thinking that helped propel Roc-A-Fella Records and Roc-A-Wear to crossover success. In 2004, Roc-A-Fella was sold to Island Def Jam for $10 million while his stake in Roc-A-Wear fetched a healthy $22.5 million in cash.
Two years later, Jay Z sold the rights to the company to Iconix Brand Group for $204 million…in cash.
If it were not for Damon Dash, Jay Z would not exist as we know him. That is a point that really cannot be debated, considering the many contributions Dash played in building the businesses, marketing the products and discovering artists too.
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| Damon Dash is launching a new subscription streaming service to access all of his content. |
Damon Dash’s business philosophies were hotly debated earlier this year, after a major argument with DJ Envy, on Power 105’s “Breakfast Club” morning show with co-hosts Charlamagne Tha God and Angela Yee.
Damon attacked DJ Envy and accused the DJ of not being an entrepreneur, despite his success as an investor in some different publicly traded companies.
“Do you have to come to work today? Do you have a choice? Can somebody tell you you’re fired? Can another man say you’re fired? No one can tell me that,” Damon Dash snapped during the interview.
The argument even produced a catch phrase “hustle for your last name, not your first,” based off of one of Dash’s quotes, in a nod to his ambition to leave intergenerational wealth behind for his family.
The argument touched a nerve because wealth inequality is an issue that is hotly debated around the world. Especially since it was revealed that the richest 1% will be worth more than the rest of the world by 2016.
So, investing in himself and the Internet is familiar territory for Damon Dash. While he and Jay Z were still partners, Dash oversaw the launch of the brand’s Roc Digital business (2004) which produced a short-lived line of “Rocbox” MP3 players with Hitachi.
Even after the sale of Roc-A-Fella, Damon could not shake the desire for success online.
He and Roc-A-Fella co-founder Kareem “Biggs” Burke founded the social networking site BlockSavvy.com in 2006. That brand was quietly unloaded in 2014 when Dash sold the business to Philadelphia-based web developer Matt Dunleavy.
The upcoming launch of DameDashStudios.com will bring the mogul’s endeavors back to a single place on the Internet. The move to North Carolina has also created several offline opportunities for Dash. He recently launched a new art gallery and is working to cultivate the talents of local, artistic individuals.
“I have identified an amazing array of talent here. We are launching new music, videos and movies every day,” Damon Dash said of working in North Carolina.
Damon Dash’s latest venture DameDashStudios.com will launch of September 1. It costs $9.99 a month, or $49.99 for the year.
