During Jay-Z’s enshrinement into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland this weekend, The Blueprint rapper made a point to recognize Dame Dash and the role he played throughout his career.
Dash, who co-founded Roc-A-Fella Records with Hov back in the 90s, served as Jay’s manager and business partner before their relationship soured in the mid-2000s upon Def Jam’s purchase of Roc-A-Fella, and Jay becoming the president of the record label. Over the last two decades, Hov and Dame have taken numerous shots at each other and have engaged in one the most public business feuds in hip-hop history.
However, during Jay’s enshrinement speech, he couldn’t help but acknowledge Dame’s accomplishments and the successes they achieved with Roc-A-Fella.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
Jerod Harris/Getty Images
“Shout out to Dame,” Jay said. “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.”
Not to be outdone by the newest member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Dame told Page Six that he was appreciative of the shoutout, and that he’s ready to squash any beef he has with Jay-Z.
“It was beautiful … 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,” he said. “I have no beef with [him] if [he has] no beef with me … let’s get the lawyers out of it then. Let’s talk like men.”
Despite their most recent disagreement over selling the cover of Jay’s first studio album, Reasonable Doubt, as an NFT, Dame maintained that he and Hov have to move their problems out of court if they really want to repair their relationship.
“I would never want you to think that we have to go to the court to resolve anything … 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,” Dash told Page Six. “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.”
Both parties have assured that their problems are business-related, and in responding to Jay-Z’s shout out, Dame nodded to his one-time business partner’s accomplishments in hip-hop.
“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,” he said.
Do you think Hov and Dame will ever be able to truly squash their beef? Let us know in the comments.