Roc-A-Fella Records, birthed by Damon Dash, Kareem Burks, and Shawn Carter (AKA Jay-Z) became a hot commodity in part because of the marketing, the business, and of course, the artistry of Jay-Z.
Dash revealed recently that many years after the creation of the successful record company, the entrepreneur was only offered $1.5 million for his stake in Roc-A-Fella Records.
In a Veuit Podcast episode that aired last month, Dash talked about his interest and involvement in the blockchain space and that he became interested in that area due to his former partner giving him a lowball offer to purchase the stake he owns in the company.
“When I was offered a certain amount of money for my interest in Roc-A-Fella Inc., which owns Reasonable Doubt
, they offered me, like, a million and a half dollars—Jay-Z. And I was like, ‘That’s some disrespectful sh-t. So, I guess I have to sell it someplace else.’”The Harlem native had a conversation with his cousin attorney Ronald Sweeney, who advised him to sell his stake in Roc-A-Fella as an NFT (non-fungible
token). Dash agreed that it was a good idea and could possibly garner him more money. After he started to make moves to make it happen, attorneys for Jay-Z filed a lawsuit to prevent Dash from selling his stake as an NFT.The lawsuit between the two former Roc-A-Fella Records label owners was settled last year, according to Reuters.
The agreement says, “RAF, Inc. owns all rights to the album Reasonable Doubt, including its copyright. No shareholder or member of RAF, Inc. holds a direct ownership interest in Reasonable Doubt.” Under the terms of the agreement hashed out, Dash can still sell the one-third stake he has in Roc-A-Fella in the future, but he cannot “in any way dispose of any property interest in Reasonable Doubt.”