In this exclusive video premiere on TheUrbanDaily, Dan Charnas, author of the epic new book The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop, talks about one very interesting event in Jay-Z’s breakup with Dame Dash that you won’t read in Jay-Z’s new bestseller, Decoded.

Check out the video below:

Dan Charnas, author of The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop, is the managing editor of InteractiveOne. Charnas, a Pulitzer Prize Fellow, was one of the first writers for the Source magazine and part of the generation of young writers who helped create hip-hop journalism. His writing has appeared in the Village Voice, the Washington Post, GIANT, and newspapers around the country. He spent 15 years in the music business, starting in the mailroom of Profile Records in the late 80s, and was VP of A&R for Rick Rubin’s American Recordings.

• Purchase The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop here
• Learn more about The Big Payback here.
• Think you know hip-hop history? Take “The Big Payback” Quote Quiz here

Linda Williams is suing her ex Damon Dash for $1 million in compensatory damages, claiming that he harassed their son, Damon 2nd, and lied to the NYPD.

In court papers that surfaced on Tuesday, Williams’ attorneys claim that Damon “threatened” their son after he found the 17-year-old deejaying in an NYC nightclub and then held the teen against his will in his apartment.

Find out what happened when Williams got a restraining order out on Dash by clicking  HERE

Music and movies have always gone together.  Musicals have been popular films since the golden era of Hollywood.  Back in the day, it was almost required that film stars be able to sing just as well as they could act.

Sadly, the marriage between music and movies hasn’t been entirely blissful, especially when hip-hop is added into the equation.  Over the years many films have been made with hip-hop culture at the focal point, or with rappers in starring roles, few of them worth the celluloid they were filmed on.

Here’s a look at some of the worst hip-hop films that we’ve seen starring rappers ternt actors.

Belly (1998)

This Hype Williams directed movie has only one saving grace: the work of its cinematographer, Malik Sayeed.  Belly is a beautiful film to look at, but Williams uses every music video cliché possible and fails to provide an interesting story, or even a cast (Nas, DMX, Method Man, T-Boz from TLC) capable of making the film bearable to watch. After the nearly perfect intro sequence, the movie spirals out of control.  Fortunately for movie-goers, Hype hasn’t directed a feature length film since this one.  A sequel of sorts was released straight-to-DVD in 2008 and starred The Game but I didn’t even bother to watch it. I’m sure it’s worthy of a spot on this list as well.

State Property 2 (2005)

State Property 2 had a whole bunch of cameos and no plot whatsoever. How in the hell did Beanie Sigel get out of jail after shooting up the courtroom in the first place? Dame Dash tries to make an overblown Rocafella ad with all of the artists on the label without thinking of any character development or plot or acting. On the flipside, Noreaga is amusing as El Pollo Loco.

SP2 is also notable for it’s liberal usage of the F word, as evidenced in this below highlight reel from the film

Before I Self Destruct (2009)

It’s a film starring 50 Cent. Need I say more? Curtis stars in this film as a young guy who wants a basketball career, but after his mother is killed, he’s hellbent on revenge.  This waste of time was packaged with 50′s album of the same name, and features one of the most ridiculous sex scenes ever filmed.

Full Clip (2004)

Busta Rhymes stars in this loose reworking of the 1970s film Bucktown as Pope who returns to his hometown to claim an inheritance left by his father.  Pope finds that the town in a much different state than when he left and he partners up with his old friend Duncan (Xzibit) to reclaim the town.  Wyclef appears in the film as the narrator of the story who you want to empty a full clip on by the time the film reaches its halfway point.

Cool As Ice (1991)

Vanilla Ice stars in this film loosely based on the classic James Dean film Rebel Without A Cause. Ice was at the height of his popularity when this film dropped, and his status as every teenaged girl’s fantasy couldn’t save this movie from tanking. Lucky for us, Ice delivered one classic piece of dialogue that will forever live in infamy…

“Drop that zero and get with this hero!”

Rappin (1985)

As a kid, I made an ill-advised trip to the movie theater with my sisters to see this Mario Van Peebles movie that came out when movies like the Breakin’ franchise, Krush Groove, and Beat Street were all the rage. Ninety long minutes later, we emerged from the theater wanting our $2.50 back.  Rappin was a re-telling (notice a trend here?) of Robin Hood in which Mario Van Peebles starred as Rappin John Hood (get it?).  No words can explain just how bad this movie was, so peep the trailer:

With all of the direct-to-DVD hood flicks that being hawked at barbershops across the country, we’ve certainly missed a few of them.  Which ones would you put on your list???

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Remember when Roc-A-Fella Records was the hottest label in hip-hop back in the late 90s and early 2000s?

Dame Dash does too, and hopes to restore the label that he was bought out of back to its former glory.

The Roc roster really only has one active artist on it at present time, Kanye West.  Most of its other signees, including the label’s co-founder  Jay-Z, have moved on to other recording plantations.

Dame plans to release the debut album from Curren$y as the relaunched label’s first release on June 15th.

“Def Jam or Universal bought the brand,” Dash told MTV. “I think the ‘beef’ [with us and Jay-Z] was that Jay made it clear he didn’t want me or [Roc-A-Fella's third co-founder Karriem "Biggs" Burke] to be a part of it. That’s really where it was at. Now that he doesn’t work for Def Jam anymore, he doesn’t have the right to use the name. So there’s no reason for us not to use it. It’s there, and it’s a brand that’s not being used. So I was like, ‘I’ll take it.’ It always meant something to me.”

Dash secured the deal through Island Def Jam chairman L.A. Reid, who previously worked with Dash through his shortlived Damon Dash Music Group.

After the release of Curren$y’s album, Roc-A-Fella will release Ski Beatz’s long awaited 24 Hour Ski School mixtape.

SOURCE

RELATED: GALLERY: Dame Dash Strolls With His Daughter

RELATED: THE LEAK: Ski Beatz, Mos Def & Whosane “Taxi”

Cute.

Also, Dash visited Good Day New York to talk about DD172 art gallery. He also talked about his fall out with Jay-Z.

After years of not speaking to each other, Damon Dash and Memphis Bleek share a man hug then keep it moving.

It’s rumored that Jay-Z wasn’t far away when this happened.

Yeah, it’s a slow news day…  Rappers are behaving themselves. Somebody needs to get arrested!

RELATED: Dame Dash Breaks Down Jay-Z Hustle!

RELATED: Memphis Bleek Blames Timbaland For Jay-Z Leaks

The Death Of The Bling dynasty is official. Now all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put rocafella back together again.

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VIA YBF:

Jay-Z made an appearance at Tim Westwood’s radio show in London last night and stayed for 2 hours talking about everything–including Game and Chris Brown:

On Game talking mess about Jay-Z and Beyonce:
“He’s a groupie. Tell ‘Groupie’ to get over it.”

Let’s hope he doesn’t have any beef with us after we put his age out there. Check it out!

On Chris Brown’s apology
“We Are all flawed human beings. All a person can do is apologize. Everyone should be allowed to make mistakes. It happens.”

On Blocking Chris Brown from Performing at the BET Awards
“That’s the silliest rumor I’ve ever heard. First let me categorically deny that, that’s not even my style. If I have a problem with Chris brown, I have a problem with Chris Brown. I haven’t said anything live or behind the scenes. I don’t agree with what he did and that’s it. But as far as not letting him perform on BET, that’s ridiculous, that’s stupid and that’s a sucker move. I wouldn’t do it. And people commenting on rumors, that’s a sucker move.”

Sounds like he was going at Dame Dash on the sly about “commenting on rumors being a sucker move”. Remember Dame saying in this interview that he believes Jay did block Chris from the BET Awards. Especially because he’s done something similar to Dame himself–his ex best friend? Funny. Here’s the whole interview:

Spotted At TLF:

Oh boy! Jay-Z’s old business partner talks about a rumor floating around that Chris Brown was stopped from performing at the BET Awards….and he doesn’t look happy.

VIA HHB:

Roc-A-Fella associate Twista recently updated fans on his relationship with the label’s co-founder Damon Dash and his admiration for Jay-Z.

Speaking on his close relationship with fellow Chi-town rapper Kanye West, Twista also discussed his standings with other current and former Roc-A-Fella artists.

“Jay is like the big brother and to be honest I’m bogus because I need to put a call in,” he said in a recent interview. “He did a lot for me. Everybody got a story about Jay about how bogus he is or whatever but me, I’m a little n*gga from Chicago who he walked up to in the club and told me he remembered me performing with him from way back in the day. Like ’89 or something. He said ‘you deserve it cause you been going hard all these years.’

That’s my story. Dame has always showed me love like a regular n*gga from the crib, that’s why I love Dame. The one I probably keep in contact with the most is probably Freeway. [Memphis] Bleek is cool with one of my mans in Chicago. I did a couple joints with Peedi Crakk, did some stuff with my guys from the Young Gunz on the low. So, I still f*ck with the guys.” (XXLMag)

Despite having over a decade of history within the music industry, Twista’s popularity reached commercial success due to Kanye-produced records “Slow Jamz” and “Overnight Celebrity.”

In fall 2002, Twista hooked up with Ludacris, Jay-Z, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and other rap moguls for the recording of his third album. Kamikaze came out at the beginning of 2004 and promptly hit the Billboard 200, riding the impetus of his No. 1 hit single “Slow Jamz.” (All Music)

Twista recently spoke with SOHH about his upcoming album Category F5.

“I didn’t mean to go that hard,” he explained. “It just started happening once I started doing tracks with some of my favorite artists. We got Akon on the album for sure. We got Static Major on the album. We got Kanye West. I got R. Kelly on the album, that’s the hometown homie. There’s a few more, Lil Boosie, Gucci Mane.” (SOHH)

He has officially parted ways with Atlantic and joined forces with EMI for his new project.

Twista left Atlantic Records in 2007 and launched his own label, Get Money Gang Entertainment, in 2008. However, the “Slow Jamz” hitmaker has now secured a distribution deal with EMI that will see his forthcoming album Category F5 released in a joint venture with Get Money Gang, EMI and Capitol Records. (Soulful Vibes)

Check out these Urban Daily ‘Noisemakers’ below:

If you’ve never heard of the name Choke No Joke, you can get a late pass. The former Rap City producer and Roc-A-Fella videographer followed Damon Dash as he wanted EVERYTHING recorded [click here to read]. Why?! I don’t know. But it’s come back to haunt him as in this video clip off Choke’s upcoming tell-all DVD, Dash gets a glimpse at the beginning of the end as Def Jam makes moves with Jay without Dame in tow [click here to read].

Check out the video below:

Choke No Jokes: Dame Dash’s outburst Pt 3 and Jay-Z in Puerto Rico from Miss Info on Vimeo.

Does Jay & Dame make it into our 100 Celebs gallery? Check it out below to find out:

Check out Capo, Dame and Ciroc Obama in the studio (I wonder what they’re working on) plus more of the latest celeb photos!

Which rappers look like Muppets?! Find out here!

Check out more of the latest Celeb Sightings here!

This is when you know the end is near. What do you do when the company that funnels money into your company likes your best friend over you?

Check out what Dame did below and share your thoughts in the comments section:

(Shout out to Choke No Joke & Nah Right…)

Damon may be selling luxury cars, but in this quick vid clip from Jim Jones documentary, the former Roc-A-Fella CEO explains why him, Dipset and Jay had their issues!

He’s got no money, but he sure does have mo’ problems.

Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear co-founder Damon Dash has been slapped with divorce papers by wife Rachel Roy, the Daily News has learned.

The stunning fashion designer piled onto Dash’s already sizable stack of lawsuits when she filed for divorce from her husband of four years this month in Manhattan Supreme Court.

Ed Hayes, a lawyer for Roy, declined comment, and a Dash spokeswoman did not return calls or e-mails.

An electronic record of the case says the divorce is for “nonmonetary relief” and should be resolved by February.

Dash and Roy, who put her own name on a women’s fashion line, got hitched in Mexico in January 2005. They met when Roy was working at Rocawear and have two daughters.

Check out the duo in happier times:

The breakup is the latest legal mess for the has-been hip-hop titan, whose empire – which he once pegged at “about $50 million” in a New York magazine profile – has crumbled under massive debt, bad business deals and one suit after another.

Dash, who in 2005 sold his stake in Rocawear to Jay-Z for $20 million, owes $2 million in state taxes, and a bank has started foreclosure proceedings on his two Tribeca condos.

A Manhattan judge even ordered the city to seize his luxury Chevrolet Tahoe SUV last year when he couldn’t make the $714.99 monthly payment. He’s also being sued by law firms and landlords for not paying his bills.

The fall has been a spectacular one for Dash, who sipped Champagne on a yacht in Jay-Z’s video for “Big Pimpin’” – then emptied his bottle of bubbly onto bikini-clad beauties in a hot tub.

“He’s broke, he’s got nothing left,” a source said.

Dash debuted last year as a theater producer with the “Hip-Hop Monologues,” an Off-Broadway account of the life of his latest protégé, rapper Jim Jones.

The production is set to resume performances tonight at 37 Arts in Manhattan.

While he may have been short on cash, Dash wasn’t short on confidence when he hyped the show in New York magazine and vowed to make a splashy return to the music business.

“And when I come back, I’m gonna change the economy as well,” he said.

Check out these related stories and share your thoughts in the comment sections:

Was Aaliyah The Cause Of The Roc Breakin’ Up?

GALLERY: Hip-Hop Break-Ups!

GALLERY: Are You SURE That Aaliyah Didn’t Break Up The Roc?!

SOURCE: NY Daily News

Rapper Memphis Bleek recently took time to discuss his departure from Roc-A-Fella distributor Def Jam .

“Jay’s the kindest nigga that walk the face of this earth and everything ain’t money,” said Bleek in a video on HipHopBeef.com, rebutting rumors that Jay-Z didn’t look after his artists. “Nigga gave everybody he knew that he came up with rhyming with opportunity, that’s all you can ask for…You know Hov broke bread…I left Def Jam…I had options to put out another album on Def Jam but then I had a meeting with him and he made it real clear to me, ‘Why do that, you got the opportunity right now to run your own company. I’ma get you the distribution deal for Get Low Records, you sign your artists, drop your albums under Get Low and I’ma still executive produce.’”

Bleek also spoke on Roc-A-Fella’s initial breakup, saying that “I saw it coming…I ain’t seen or speak to Beans in forever, I ain’t seen the Gunz in forever…I definitely ain’t seen or speak to Peedi Crakk.”

As for his relationship with Dame Dash, “It was weird. Dame always was cool to me. He looked out for me as a youngin…He was a good dude. You know how they say – with money, it changes a lot of things. It changed Roc-A-Fella.”

SOURCE: HipHopDX

Last night, The Urban Daily was treated to an advance screening of This Is Jim Jones. The documentary is another project in the long list of things to look forward from the Dipset Capo as he preps for his new album Pray IV Reign. While the film chronicles Jones’ entire life, there are some key members that have remained in Jones’ life such as Damon Dash, Juelz Santana and Freeky Zeeky.

The flick is funny with Jimmy providing the narrative and the humor throughout the hour-and-some-change movie. In one particular scene, Dash brings Jim Jones with him to an upscale event and while Dame’s intent was to expand Jones’ horizons, the new face of the Diplomats looks completely out of place.

With the beginning chapters focusing on Jones’ upbringing in Harlem, family turmoil, gang affiliation and reckless behavior – Jones tries to keep his family (both professional and personal) in check with Damon Dash as his mentor and friend.

One of the must-see-parts in This Is Jim Jones is where Jimmy speaks on his relationship with Cam’Ron (“We’re frenemies.“), his thoughts on the Roc-A-Fella break-up and their on-and-off beef with Jay-Z.

“He is too old to be doing what he doing and he dresses horrible,” Jones says about former boss, Jay-Z.

The documentary goes extensively through Jim Jones’ career and although major issues are addressed and current hot-button topics get some screen time, This Is Jim Jones at times does feel like a marketing ploy for Pray IV Reign with “Precious” (featuring Ryan Leslie) blaring in the background.

All in all, the film hits stores on May 12th with the album to hit stores and online on March 24th.

Check out the trailer for This Is Jim Jones below:

Ok, I had to finally speak on the crazy comments since this story of alleged (yes, folks, he is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law) killer Fredrick Goings. Yes, the man police think murdered Eddy Curry’s ex-girlfriend and daughter looks just like Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash.

But I must state for the record that Damon Dash would never be this dumb. If he wanted to have somebody killed he’d just hire Beanie Sigel. I joke, I joke. But seriously, leave that man alone. He has enough problems.

You guys lit the comment section on fire trying to weigh in on whether or not Aaliyah was the cause of Roc-A-Fella CEO’s Jay-Z & Damon Dash breaking up. With so many other high-profile break-ups, it seems that this one got your attention the most. So, check out these photos of the “couples” retreat to the Hamptons and answer this:

Are you SURE Aaliyah didn’t break up the Roc?!

Global Grind had a press conference today at the Bryant Park Hotel to announce Russell Simmons as Editor in Chief of the Hip Hop focused website which will now offer blogs from top celebrities.

The first group of bloggers include Akon, Angela Simmons, Benny Boom, Bow Wow, Brandi Garcia, Brett Ratner, Damon Dash, DJ Cassidy, DJ D-Nice, DJ Khaled, DJ Whoo Kid, Free, Ed Lover, World Famous G-Mack, Gorilla Zoe, Jim Jones, John Legend, JoJo Simmons, Justine Simmons, Kevin Liles, LL Cool J, Militainment Crazy Raw Radio, Little X, Nas, Nelly, Ne-Yo, Nia Long, Sanaa Lathan, Toccara, T-Pain, Trey The Choklit Jok, Big Boy, Noemie Lenoir, LeToya Luckett, Mickey Factz and Vanessa Simmons.

The website plans on expanding the list in the future to include leading and emerging artists, thought leaders, celebrities, actors, models, DJ’s, politicians and activists.

The site also includes a blog from Simmons himself, Reverend Run (where you can catch his Daily Words of Wisdom) and Dr. Benjamin Chavis (discussing political commentary).

Simmons states, “Ever since my early days in music, through my work in fashion, comedy, film, TV and philanthropy, I have worked as a facilitator of communication, and a promoter of creativity, entrepreneurship, giving, and political engagement.  Global Grind is the ultimate connector for the Hip Hop community and like-minded creative entrepreneurs and activists.”

SOURCE: Yahoo

Although the jury is still out on whether Aaliyah was the culprit behind Roc-A-Fella Records (i.e. Jay-Z & Dame Dash) breaking up, some of these break-ups had their own cause and effect. Even Kendra G sat down to ask Mashonda what happened between her and Swizz Beatz!

Check out these hip-hop break-ups below:

(Interested in this story? Check out our memorable hip-hop break-ups by clicking here!)

Former best pals and business partners Jay-Z and Damon Dash fell out over their love for late R&B beauty Aaliyah, former BET Rap City producer, Choke No Joke has suggested.

Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders Jay-Z, Dash and Kareem ‘Biggs’ Burke parted ways in 2004 after a number of disagreements.

Jay-Z took control of the established rap label

and later went on to become president of Def Jam, while Dash and Burke formed their own imprint, DDMG (Damon Dash Music Group).

However, filmmaker Choke No Joke insists the bitter relationship between Jay-Z and Dash extended beyond business and spilled over into their personal lives.

He alludes to the pair both enjoying close relationships with singer, actress and model Aaliyah, and that Jay-Z became unhappy when Dash started publicly dating her in late 2000, up until her untimely death in 2001.

He tells Hip Hop Weekly, “Both Jay and Dame was involved with a certain R&B singer, who I’m not gonna say her name out of respect ’cause she ain’t around to defend herself, but I believe that was a part of the initial friction.”

“I was seeing Jay with her back around 2000, then Dame was with her after. All you have to do is look at the movie they did, Death of a Dynasty. In the movie they were fighting over a model. In real life she was a model, but singing is what she was known for first.”

Rumors of a romance between Jay-Z and Aaliyah were never confirmed; the hip-hop superstar is now married to R&B beauty Beyonce Knowles.

In memory of a true angel, check out “I Miss U,” by Aaliyah:

SOURCE: PR Inside

The fight that caused the break-up between Jay-Z and Damon Dash from Roc-A-Fella Records is finally being revealed by former BET producer and Roc employee Choke No Joke.

Joke is releasing a documentary next year, titled I Am Choke, No Joke, in which he will give the details about the crumbling of the hip-hop empire founded by former fast friends Jay and Dash.

“Dame was a camera freak. He loved people to tape him, ’cause he started thinking he was a star . . . Ever since the ‘Big Pimpin’ video, he started gettin’ a little light and it started to get to his head,” the New York Post quoted Joke as telling SOHH.com.

According to Joke, it was Dash’s signing of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and his proposal of Cam’ron as a vice president of the label, which Jay-Z rejected, that caused the disagreement between them.

“Jay wasn’t feeling none of that [bleep],” Joke said.

Dash was furious with Jay-Z for dumping him and starting off on his own, and revealed on a video on hiphopofficial.com, when he asked about producing tracks for rappers who slam Jay, that he was put in a position where he has no say.

“What he did to me publicly could be seen as so heinous and foul that how could I ever tell somebody, ‘Don’t do nothin’? . . . Before, I might have taken a bullet or a punch for Jay, now I just don’t get involved. That’s the way he chose it to be. You won’t be hearing me say nothing about him, but I won’t be jumping in a fight for him,” Dash said.

Jay-Z, on the other hand, has revealed that there is nothing wrong between him and Dash. “Dame and I are all good. We’re friends,” he said.

First Jay and Dame break up, now everyday I wake up, someone got something to say… SMH!

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Wanna find out what else KHIA has to say about WEEZY? Click here to read the story!

Click here to watch T.I. talk more about wanting a “respectabe freak!”

Check out GIANTmag.com to see more from the NEW BEYONCE COVER STORY! Click here to see the gallery!

Previously: ‘Damon Dash Fuels Beef With Jay-Z’

“So last night we were at jeweler Waris Ahluwalia’s Belvedere “Uptown Meets Downtown” party at a penthouse in the Plaza, and we ran into hip-hop panda Damon Dash. He’s been having some financial troubles lately, but he was in high spirits! In fact, we chitchatted about his business woes, and he said that these spirits are exactly what gets him through the day: “I go to board meetings high,” he explained. Also, he’s totally counting on his beautiful designer wife to get the two of them through this rough patch. Aw!“

SOURCE: NYMag.com

The New York Daily News claims to have a transcript of the former Roc-A-Fella co-CEO during his interview with Complex magazine. In the interview, which is supposed to run online Wednesday, Dash allegedly takes a jab at his former business partner, by suggesting there’s an equally scintillating feud growing between Hova and Kanye West.

The report says Dash cites a 2003 concert in Chicago, where West was to be presented his own Roc-A-Fella chain and medallion:

“This nigga [Kanye] was like, ‘Wow. [Jay-Z] ain’t going to give me the chain.’ I had to take off my chain and give it to him… and I was heated. I had the real canary diamonds. That shit cost $40,000! I told Kanye, ‘Yo, you got to give that back when we get off this stage!’”

Reps from Ye’s camp tell the Daily News the story is “ridiculous and totally false.”

Equally damaging is Jay’s former mentor during his “Hawaiian Sophie” days in the late 80′s addressing a bar that Jigga threw his way. On the Ludacris single, “I Do It For Hip-Hop,” Hovie pays tribute to classic hip-hop artists while giving Jaz-O a left-handed smack in saying, “Shout out to Grandmaster Flash and to Caz and even Jaz bum ass.”

On a viral video released by TFTV, Jaz suggest he plans to respond by saying, “It’s just a matter of time, and not a whole lot of it. Them things gonna get flung out in the street. It’s gonna be everywhere and you know I know how to respond.“ “All that greatest rapper shit? C’mon, knock it off. I’m Jaz-O. Y’all niggas should know better. Ain’t no dollar amount that’s gonna ever, ever bring you up to even tying my motherfucking shoes.”

Should Jay-Z be worried? You be the judge! Speak on it in the comment section!