Dame Dash has frequently spoken about the demise of the once-mighty Roc-A-Fella, but he truly knew it was all over once JAY-Z stopped playing “Pause.”
In a recent interview on Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion podcast, which was unearthed on Sunday (June 4) but originally released on May 24, the former executive revealed that Hova’s refusal to play the once-popular game was the first step to the demise of the collective.
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“I knew that Roc-A-Fella was over when they stopped playing ‘pause,'” he said. “The other side was kinda like, nah, we don’t play that no more. We grown, you know? And I was like, ‘it’s over.'”
Though Dame didn’t mention Mr. Carter by name, everyone in the room seemed to know what he was talking about and erupted in raucous laughter.
While Dame may still be smarting over the demise of Roc-A-Fella, he still thinks it’s the greatest rap crew of all time.
During a conversation on that same podcast, the Roc-A-Fella co-founder went into detail about how he believes he was a part of the most iconic crew in Hip Hop history.
“One,” Dame said emphatically when Hoffa asked him where Roc-A-Fella ranks. “I expect any other crew to say that they were number one. I don’t know about anybody’s experience, I know about mines. It gave me the life I have now. It’s depending on what you consider the best. For me, the criteria is making a rapper a billionaire.”
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He added: “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!”
Math Hoffa then explained to Dash that there were brackets created that paired greatest rap crews of all time against each other and he had to pick one or the other. When Hoffa asked who Dame Dash would pick between Wu-Tang Clan and Ruff Ryders, he refused to give an answer.
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“No, I’m not doing that,” the Harlem mogul said. “They both my brothers, bro. It’s 50 years later. If you were to ask me back then, I’d have been like, ‘Roc-A-Fella.’ We battled these n-ggas, you feel me? But these are my brothers. You don’t judge your brothers.
“Like, I’m not gon’ say, ‘Yo, who is the best hustler? Me, Lou, or Daniel?’ N-gga, we still friends so we all the best hustlers. We fought a war and we still friends. They both my friends. I just did Block Talk with Dee and Waah.”
