Damon Dash

Raised in East Harlem by a single mother who worked as a secretary, Damon Dash is a multi-preneur who has had his hands in a bit of everything from the very beginning in the early 1990’s. He began by hosting parties while working to launch a music-management business. He made it when he signed Brooklyn native Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, a rapper who had been turned down by other record labels.

Together they hustled to create the first album as well as to sell it and found major success. In 1995 the dynamic duo along with another partner, Kareem “Biggs” Burke, created Roc-a-Fella records, specializing almost exclusively in hip-hop music. Dash branched out to create a clothing line, Rocawear, and to produce films with his film company Dash Films.

In late 2004, Dash sold his interest in Roc-a-Fella to parent company Island Def Jam Records for ten million dollars, and founded the Damon Dash Music Group as a new venture with the senior record company. The 30-something Dash continues to muti-task with the creation of a signature sneaker business, a stake in a vodka brand, and by teaming up with a famous watchmaker.